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(Unverified)Oct 21st 2009 11:22AM

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There's a trust factor on Facebook, and many other social media sites. People feel that their little corner of the world is safe. They feel like these games and apps shouldn't be compromised because "Why? What value is in hacking Aquariumlife?" Kids using Facebook certainly don't think about security threats. They are simply looking for something to do.

This is exactly WHY these attacks are so successful right now, just as the first email worms were 10+ years ago. Cyber-criminals know how to exploit this trust to infect more people. In time, the trust will erode to a healthy skepticism, just as it has for email and web browsing.

Feel free to check out http://www.sophos.com/security/topic/facebook.html and http://www.sophos.com/security/best-practice/facebook.html to see how to lock down your Facebook access. In addition, the same best practices such as having up-to-date security software, applying OS patches, whether Mac or Windows, changing your passwords frequently (and not using the same one for everything) and simply being vigilant can go a long way.

Beth Jones,SophosLabs

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