Cyber criminals zero in on social networking websites

Social networking, travel websites, music and movie downloads are the top target areas for cybercriminals according to the latest security data released by internet security firm Trend Micro.

Data released from TrendLabs, Trend Micro's global threat research and support organisation, said that cybercriminals are taking advantage of some of these activities by tailoring their scams towards some of these.

"Information collected through phishing attacks is very valuable to attackers. Not only is there a thriving market for e-mail addresses that can be utilised by spammers, and which are generally sold in batches of thousands – but when you add login details to the situation – it brings the financial possibilities to a whole different level", said David Sancho at TrendLabs, Trend Micro.

"The popularity behind social networking sites in particular, makes them a vulnerable target for cyber criminals. While we are seeing some summer threats distributed as e-mail links and attachments, we are seeing more of these embedded into Web 2.0 links, many of them found on social networking sites. As these sites, such as Twitter, become more interactive and innovative, we expect to see more sophisticated security breaches and cybercriminal activity around these."

Social networking or threatworking has become a common ground for these criminals as the summer season is also a popular time to connect with friends and family. As this is frequently done via social networking websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Bebo and others. These sites are an extremely popular platform for cybercriminals to hijack accounts, steal identities and create tailored scams.

High traffic websites such as those of travel agents, hotels, shopping sites and others which draw people into last minute deals and discounts. In order to target as many potential victims as possible, cybercriminals are also trooping to these websites, following the crowd as it seems.

Booking tickets online is another area where cybercriminals have been leveraging consumer convenience by creating tailored spam messages to phish for credit card information.

News, new movie releases and juicy gossip are popular searches for people who want to always be "in the know". Cybercriminals are increasingly creating poised search results related to the hottest news in order to direct consumers to malicious websites with recent scams.

Students on holiday with more time on their hands typically spend more time online to stay up to date with notable events. Cybercriminals thus take advantage of students' boredom, luring them to click links to fake news reports or videos.

During the summer, consumers spend more time online downloading files. While the exchange of a majority of movies, television episodes, music and software over P2P constitute piracy, its persistence nevertheless lures more users into the practice. The danger with these websites is that users are typically not aware of the veracity of files they are downloading.

eBay is one of the most popular online retailers and also a top phished website. Online shoppers are a primary target for information theft with cybercriminals continuously weaving sophisticated schemes to extort user information for financial gain.

Cyber criminals were also found able to fake a goods reputation on eBay through ratings manipulation.

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