2011 Predictions: Social Media – A Business Enabler and Vector for Data Loss and Search Poisoning

Everyone is talking about social media in the workplace. Organizations are adopting information technology at a rapid footstep, looking to accept advantage of the huge benefits social media offers. McKinsey recently released astudy illustrating the adoption and benefits of social media. ReadWriteWeb just posted the 10 Ways Social Media Volition Change in 2011, a good expect at the advantages of communicating over the social Web. However, at that place is one area both of these pieces miss entirely and, in fact, is one of the biggest challenges CISOs and CSOs are facing in 2011: The security of social media.

Here’s what we know: Attacks using social media are already prevalent and will increase in 2011. Cyber criminals will keep to enjoy the social media playground.

Our own statistics prove that 13 pct of all Web traffic is going to Facebook and this number continues to increase as more and more than business use social media as a ways for marketing, recruiting and even training. Without the proper security measures and policies in place, the social Spider web can quickly turn from a gold-mine opportunity to a serious information risk.

Why? Because businesses today are 4 times more than likely to experience a data breach over the Web, than email.  For example, employees will inadvertently post confidential corporate data to social networking sites or click on an infections link – compromising an entire system. On the flip side, cyber criminals are taking advantage of user generated content on social media sites.For example, in 2011 we’ll see cyber criminals:

  • Dispense social media search algorithms to trick users into visiting simulated brand and glory pages and increment exposure to malware. While the algorithm is harder to dispense than traditional search sites, as these social networks become an increasingly big destination portal for all things, we believe that the manipulation is likely in the coming year. Yes, SEO poisoning will move to the social Web.
  • Steal user’south social network credentials.If you call up of the social Web as an increasingly relevant portal for all information, these credentials go more valuable. While it is a broad user issue, it will become increasingly targeted. It’s very reasonable to anticipate that the bad guys will look to selectively steal the social media credentials of high profile users to push their links and drive followers and fans to traps on the Web.

  • Send Web spam directly to social network users.

     Nosotros’ve already seen this to a sure degree and tin can simply look it to increase in the coming year.

  • Post Spider web spam as comments

     or responses on user’s profiles and blogs. Comment spam is likely to stay at the same amazingly high level, but more of the spam will exist used to send malicious links.
  • Capitalize on the reputation of social networks to host malicious user generated content.You electively select who y’all friend and follow, and then an inherent degree of trust is placed in their content. This is the ultimate goal for the bad guys, exploiting the “trust cistron” on the social Spider web to manipulate users into clicking.

In today’s world, turning off access to Facebook and Twitter is simply disruptive to a business. You can no longer ignore the enormous value that the social Spider web brings to the enterprise. Those that do will run the take a chance of being perceived as an industry laggard or worse – losing a critical segment of an emerging marketplace. While at the same time, we simply cannot turn a bullheaded eye to growing security risks associated with this dynamic Web platform. In order to cover social media, businesses need to find a fashion to employ 3 key aspects of effective enterprise social networking: condom, productivity and compliance. Stay tuned for farther Insight on this topic from ane of my colleagues at Websense. In the interim, we’ll be posting a few more than predictions for 2011. If you lot’d similar to read upward on our recap of 2010, please visit www.websense.com/content/threat-study-2010-introduction.aspx

Forcepoint is the leading user and data protection cybersecurity visitor, entrusted to safeguard organizations while driving digital transformation and growth. Our solutions conform in existent-time to how people collaborate with data, providing secure access while enabling employees to create value.

Source: https://www.forcepoint.com/blog/insights/2011-predictions-social-media-business-enabler-and-vector-data-loss-and-search

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