Social Networking Sites Pose SE Threat

Via theregister.co.uk -

Social networking sites are creating a means for hackers and conmen to worm their way into the confidence of users.

Sites such as LinkedIn can be used to create a veneer of trust that leaves internet users and business at a greater risk of attack, according to a study by Danish security firm CSIS. Dennis Rand, a security researcher at CSIS, created a fictitious entry on the LinkedIn network before inviting random and unknown users of LinkedIn to join his private network. By posing as an ex-employee of "targeted" firms he was able to prompt real workers from these firms into establishing connections.

Within a few weeks Rand created a network of 1340 trusted connections. In a research paper, Threats when using online social networks (PDF), Rand explains how information gleaned through this network might be used to harvest email addresses for spamming or worse. The "blind trust" built into social networks might be abused to send messages containing links to malicious code that are more likely to be accepted because they come from a "trusted" source, for example.

Other risks include the possibility that sales staff might take sensitive sales prospect contact lists with them when they change jobs. Just putting these contacts online creates a data leak risk.

Rand's study focused on LinkedIn, a business-focused network with around 10m registered users, but the risks highlighted apply to social networking sites as a whole. He argues firms need to update their security policies to contain rules for using social networking sites.