The dangers of social networking sites such as Facebook

Websites dedicated to social networking represent a growing phenomenon. With the explosion of sites such as Facebook and MySpace, unforeseen dangers have started cropping up. This may be an example of how technology can advance faster then society’s ability to react to it.

Currently, Facebook is one of the largest social networking sites out there. According to PC World, the site currently has over 400 million users and is still growing. Facebook and many other similar sites make use of third party applications that can be installed on these sites in the form of an interactive game or tool.

The third party application can covertly collect private data behind the scenes. According to Joe Jim, country lead for e-Corp. there are over 55,000 external applications on Facebook alone. According to the recently released Sophos Security Thread Report, approximately 57 percent of the folks using social networking sites have been spammed. This is a significant jump from the previous year as it has increased by 70.6 percent.

The report also states that 30 percent of the attacks have been phishing related in someway. Hackers have become more devious over the years by coming up with new and inventive ways to phish confidential information from your account.  Social networking sites can provide a great deal of personal and private information. Users should be careful in accessing applications via social networking sites.  Some hackers have even obtained private account information by pretending to be with the site.

According to Kaspersky Lab, social networking sites such as Facebook could create a log-in page or have the user type the URL directly into the browser. The research company also recommends that users avoid clicking on links in e-mails. It also doesn’t hurt to do a bit of research into the latest phishing scams.

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• Consumer Reports highlights social networking security dangers
• Social networking sites: A favorite hunting ground for identity thieves
• Europe considers regulating social networking sites, should US follow?
• Cell phone makers, social networking sites form alliances
• Social networking sites cost UK firms more than £130 million a day