Social networks a hacker's paradise

Social networking sites, where millions of people communicate with friends and family, are emerging as the next frontier for Internet pickpockets.

These hackers and data miners are beginning to tap into the vast amount of personal information stored on these sites to defraud unsuspecting chatters. So far, such efforts have been limited. But security experts believe social networkers could be vulnerable to "spear-phishers,'' criminals who send masked messages to a small number of people that appear to be from someone they know, as well as other, more general scams.

Social networking spam is spam directed at users of social networking services such as MySpace or orkut. Users of social networking services can send notes to one another, including embedded links to other social network locations or even outside sites.

This is where the social network spammer comes in. Utilizing the social network's search tools, a spammer can target a certain demographic and send them notes from an account disguised as real people. These notes typically are embedded with links to pornographic or other product sites designed to sell you something.

While the damage has been limited, security professionals believe social-networking scams could easily defraud young people or even the tech savvy, if they lower their guard when visiting the sites.

Trust me my readers, that at present there is so much personal information on the internet (social netwroking sites plus some other tools) that you can do absolutely anything - starting from selling any product, finding a girl to get laid, getting a job, getting your life-partner!

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The Wealth of Networks