Social media and social network website can be a great tool to promote your services or exchange contact information but there is a dark side to their services. The growth in popularity of social media websites such as Facebook and MySpace has opened up new areas of revenue for marketers but has also opened the doors for malware distribution. IT administrators now have to face the very real threat that social media website can put their businesses at risk.
The real danger of social media websites is their ease of use. Anyone regardless of computer skills or computer type can access them from anywhere. For this same reason malware distributers choose the websites to spread malicious content to people who are oblivious to the danger. From within online applications such as Facebook there is the potential to download and install small programs that can destroy data or steal your personal information.
Within the last couple months attacks have escalated from Facebook to include email based attacks. Hackers have now made use of the internal email system of the application to send seemingly legitimate emails to users. If the email is opened private user information can be stolen and used to further distribute the malicious content.
While the attacks are a serious threat to private users the danger is even greater for people who browse from work. Workers who browse Social Media websites could potentially give hackers a backdoor into otherwise secured business systems. For this reason offices should take care to monitor access and employee usage of social content sharing services.
So far damage caused for Social media websites has been minor but as more hackers migrate to the platform it is not only likely but a certainty that greater threats will arise. When used carefully social media website can be a great asset for any business but in order to be successful you must ensure you stay protected. As always the rewards of new technology go to those who know how to best take advantage of what it has to offer.
- Richard Keene
IT Computer Support of New York
Design and Optimization Department
