As computer software gets more secure, the bad guys depend more and more on our active co-operation to compromise our systems. “Social Engineering” is the term for this strategy. We all know about the dangers of requests to “run this program” or “click this link” in e-mails or on Web sites. And we wouldn’t do that, right?
And then we go to a social networking site, like LinkedIn, FaceBook, or Twitter, and happily run an application within that site to support a cause or define a relationship or send a “gift” because a friend or acquaintance invited us to. And of course, since we don’t really know anything about the application, we take the chance of having our system compromised. Viruses and malware are spreading like wildfire through social networking sites through harmless-looking malicious applications, and the communities are surprised when it happens. There’s an outraged sense of “how could this happen HERE?” when really, they did it to themselves by running software on their system that they didn’t know they could trust. Yes, FaceBook or Twitter might seem like good neighborhoods, but you can still run into creeps in the parking lot.
Excerpt from our company newsletter