Social networking site users failing on privacy
Research commissioned by internet security specialist Webroot has revealed that 37% of social networkers have blocked search engines from showing their profiles to people they do not know.
However, the Webroot study also revealed that 81% of users allow anyone who is part of their network to view their recent activities, while more than a quarter have not changed their profile's default privacy settings.
Commenting on the results, Jeff Horne, Webroot's director of threat research, said that a perfect storm is developing between the number of people flocking to social networks and the new, increasingly sophisticated malware attacks that criminals are launching to prey on the personal data users are sharing. Horne highlighted the Koobface virus as being malware that is targeted at social networking users and has more than 100 variations that attempt to extract credit card details.
