Social Networking Site Safety Questioned

An anonymous reader writes to mention a TechNewsWorld article about social networking sites. Researchers are finding these places are goldmines for social engineering exercises. Between worm attacks and simple human observation, sites like MySpace are the perfect place to obtain saleable personal information. From the article: "The danger is real, according to a study conducted by CA and the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA). In October, the alliance issued its first social networking study examining the link between specific online behaviors and the potential for becoming a victim of cybercrime. Despite all the publicity about sexual predators on sites like MySpace and FaceBook, the alliance took a different approach by measuring the potential for threats such as fraud, identity theft, computer spyware and viruses. Although 57 percent of people who use social networking sites admit to worrying about becoming a victim of cybercrime, they are still divulging information that may put them at risk, as Boyd suggested. Social networkers are also downloading unknown files from other people's profiles, and responding to unsolicited instant messages that could contain worms, the NCSA reported."

Comments

This is new...

[muindaur]

I was under the impression that this was a well known and obvious problem for a long time. Maybe I'm wrong it's new. Meh.

Re:Fix the ohter end?

[D4rk Fx]

I think the problem is with MySpace's default layout. I mean seriously, doesn't this sidebar information just invite abuse?

The Layout was recently updated to include this seemingly generic and useless information:

Favorite Color:
First Pet's Name:
Date of Birth:
City where you were born:
Drivers License Number:
Credit Card Numbers and Expiration dates:
Your Password: