Social Networks Users Have Higher Exposure to Malware
Users of social networks, such as Facebook and MySpace, are exposed to malware much more than other computer users, a security expert has warned.
Speaking at Kuwait’s ICT Security Forum, Stefan Tanase, malware analyst at the Kaspersky Lab Global Research, said that malware distributed through social media sites was 10 times more effective than viruses sent by email.
He added that social networks had about 10 percent success rate in terms of infection compared to less than 1 percent for malware spread via email.
Once infected, PC users may feel that their computer is working slower and may need to seek a computer repair.
Tanase said that the rapid increase in the usage of social networks, mobile phones and other intelligent devices had created growing opportunities for cybercriminals.
He added that it was predicted that in 2009 80 percent of all Web users would be using social networking sites, totaling more than one billion people.
“The growing popularity of social networking sites has not gone unnoticed by cybercriminals; last year, such sites became a hotbed of malware and spam, and yet another source of illegal earnings on the Internet,” Tanase said.
“The Kaspersky Lab collection contained more than 43,000 malicious files relating to social networking sites in 2008 alone,” he added.
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