Social networking 'poses significant data security threat'

2009-08-28

Social networking sites pose a significant threat to those firms looking to protect their data, it has been suggested.

Nicki Wallace, global solutions marketing manager at RSA, commented: "Social networking is obviously causing a huge problem for our customers at the moment. That's purely because of the volume of people that are using social networking sites for personal activity."

Dan Raywood, online news editor at SC Magazine, meanwhile suggested that many people assume that the social networking environment is safe, when this is not the case in reality.

Users should be aware of links that appear to be suspicious as the results can be "devastating", he claimed.

Such users could leave themselves open for an IT intrusion, while Mr Raywood asserted that computers can be destroyed if antivirus software is not up-to-date.

These comments come after research from IDC (International Data Corporation) and RSA asserted that accidental security incidents inside a company can be potentially more pernicious than malicious insider attacks.

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