More than half of all users of social networks in the U.S. are posting information that could put them at risk from cyber criminals, Computerworld reports. The data, which come from a Consumer Reports study released May 4, noted that 52 percent of adults who use social networks, such as Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter, have posted information like their full birth date, which could be used to commit crimes against them. The magazine also noted that the number of American households using social networks has doubled in the past year. “Many people use social networking sites to share personal information and photos with their friends quickly and easily,” said Jeff Fox, technology editor for Consumer Reports, in a statement. “However, there are serious risks involved, which can be lessened by using privacy controls offered by the sites.” The survey found that 42 percent of people on Facebook post their full birth date, 16 percent post their children’s names, 63 percent post photos of themselves, and 7 percent note their home address…
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Smart phones under growing threat from hackers
Smart phones are under a growing menace from cyber-criminals seeking to hack into web-connected handsets, but the mobile industry has contained the threat so far, AFP reports. Software security firms warned at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona that increasingly popular smart phones could face an explosion of virus attacks in the coming years. “Tomorrow we could see a worm on phones [that] would go around the world in five minutes,” said Mikko Hyppoenen, chief research officer at F-Secure, which makes anti-virus software for mobile phones. Security companies, mobile operators, and makers of operating systems so far have found solutions to limit the attacks and delay an onslaught of spam and viruses. “It won’t work forever; eventually we will see the first global outbreak. But we have been able to delay it by more than five years, at least,” he said. The first mobile virus appeared six years ago, and so far F-Secure has detected only 430 mobile worms, compared with millions of computer viruses. Much like the first computer hackers of two decades ago, the people attacking mobile phones have been doing it as a hobby, Hyppoenen said. “It seems that on any new platform, … the first viruses are done by hobbyists just to show off, and then later, more professional money-making criminals move in,” he said…
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