Malware attacks on social networks up 70 per cent

Spam and hacking attacks increased by 71 per cent during 2009, IT security firm Sophos has revealed.

According to the Financial Times, the research showed that around 57 per cent of social network users have received spam messgaes, while an additional 36 per cent have received malicious code through their preferred social website.

“People are used to receiving spam and malware on e-mail, but are lulled into a greater sense of security on social networking sites, because they assume they are just getting messages from friends. They are more likely to open messages,” commented Sophos’ senior technology consultant Graham Cluley.

Although malware is on the rise, it is still growing at a slower rate than the websites themselves. Last year, Facebook grew by 600 per cent while Twitter grew by 2,800 per cent.