Comments on: Google Advisory: Facebook and Twitter regularly victims of malware

By: Oliver B

Oliver B — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 08:36:31 +0000

I think what I found interesting was the fact that “the most valuable brands in the world are experiencing a direct correlation between top financial performance and deep social media engagement”.

I’ve read in articles posted elsewhere that Facebook actually increases productivity if used in moderation. It allows employees to have a quick break in between bouts of work, while being able to return to their duties feeling refreshed and invigorated without having to leave their cubicle.

By: Jarus

Jarus — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 04:31:27 +0000

@Iam

I think this information is a mix of common sense, utter genius and paralyzing realization. It’s true that the sheer volume of users makes it a “heaven for malware”, but the real issue is how user friendly the sites are for both legitimate users and malware creators.

Accessibility works both ways, and unless stricter security measures can be implemented on these sites, I don’t think it’s a concern that’ll readily fade into the background.

By: Cristina

Cristina — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 20:04:59 +0000

@Sue, I agree. Social networking sites are double-edged swords. It has the potential of generating a decent income stream, leads, and clients. However, it also poses a huge risk on security, as well as affect productivity when used excessively for the wrong purpose at the wrong time.

I also agree with the use of shortened URLs. It’s just the perfect trojan horse for spammers, scammers and malicious attackers.

By: Iam Huey

Iam Huey — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 19:48:57 +0000

But of course. With more than 500 million active users that spend over 700 billion minutes per month, Facebook is a malware’s heaven.

By: Christina Goggi

Christina Goggi — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 10:36:14 +0000

Thanks Sue! Yes, it is indeed a paradox as studies keep proving how effective these sites are when it comes to promoting the company (e.g. a 2010 study by Burson-Marsteller showed that “79 percent of the largest 100 companies in the Fortune Global 500 index are using at least one of the most popular social media platforms: Twitter, Facebook, YouTube or corporate blogs” – http://www.burson-marsteller.com/Innovation_and_insights/blogs_and_podcasts/BM_Blog/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=160); yet with these sites come web security risks which, as mentioned, can lead to loss of productivity.
I feel that what can be done at this stage is monitoring and filtering the corporate network, while establishing a solid Internet usage policy.

By: Sue Walsh

Sue Walsh — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 03:48:10 +0000

Great article. Scammers and hackers are descending on Facebook and Twitter because of the huge audiences they have and how much easier they are to reach. URL shortening services have been a boon to them too as they can hide their malcious URLs with them.

It really is a paradox for companies. They see the value in social media for connecting with customers and boosting their brand image while at the same time have to worry about lost productivity and malware coming from them!