Online criminals ''keen to target social networking sites''
Tim Hill
Date posted: 24 Feb 2010
Social networking websites are proving attractive to a number of online criminals because of the large amount of people making use of them, an expert has noted.
According to Trend Micro's senior security advisor Rik Ferguson, criminals are able to gain people's trust by posing as genuine members of such websites.
He commented: "Social networks are based on trust ... If somebody within your circle of trust admits someone who shouldn''t be there, that whole circle is broken for everyone."
Social networking websites are proving attractive to a number of online criminals because of the large amount of people making use of them, an expert has noted.
According to Trend Micro's senior security advisor Rik Ferguson, criminals are able to gain people's trust by posing as genuine members of such websites.
He commented: "Social networks are based on trust ... If somebody within your circle of trust admits someone who shouldn''t be there, that whole circle is broken for everyone."
While some email users may already be wary of internet scams, Mr Ferguson believes that social networking sites offer new opportunities for criminals.
Meanwhile, a new report from M86 Security has also looked at the trend for social networking websites to be targeted by spam attacks.
The organisation believes that such attacks may be on the rise, as a growing number of sites are adopting shortened URLs. 
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