Social networks attract hackers

A new study has revealed that a staggering 83% of adults who visit social networking sites expose themselves to malicious hackers and identity thieves.

The study, jointly conducted by not-for-profit cyber awareness group the National Cyber Security Alliance and software firm CA, polled 2,163 adults 18 years old and over during August and September 2006 to examine the link of between social networking behaviour and cyber-crime.

The study revealed that extraordinarily high percentages of visitors to social networking sites, such as MySpace and FaceBook, are engaging in high risk security practices, which expose them to identity theft, fraud, spyware and viruses.

According to the survey, almost half (48%) of the visitors to social networking sites are adults over the age of 18 years, with 53% of this group being over 35.

The vast majority (83%) of adults engage in high risk practices such as downloading unknown files from other people's profiles, as well as responding to unsolicited emails and instant messages, which could expose their PCs to attacks.

In addition, 74% of social networkers have given out personal information, such as an email address, name and birthday.

The report is also damning of parents, who do not adequately monitor their children's behaviour on social networking sites.

According to the report, 51% of parents do not restrict their children's profiles so that only their friends have access to them, while 36% of parents do not monitor their children's activities on social networking sites at all.

The report claims that adults who use social networking sites may also be placing their businesses and places of employment at risk, with 46% of those who use computers at work engaging in social networking at the office.

"Although the general community thinks most social networking users are teens, the CA/NCSA survey showed the popularity of these sites is extending beyond young early adopters to other segments of the population," said Ron Texeria, executive director of NCSA.

"Those who frequent these sites should be aware the data they share may make them prey for online attacks. Giving out a social security number, paired with a birthday and name, could provide enough ammunition for criminals to hack into financial records and compromise users' personal information."