Messaging security firm Cloudmark has released a list of
the "seven deadly sins of social networking spam", now frequently
being employed by spammers.
The list is based on analysis of the billions of messages that
Cloudmark scans for its
social networking customers each day.
The spam ranges from traditional nuisance spam to more insidious
phishing and malware attacks on consumers' social networking
profiles and pages.
The methods of these attacks are usually staged by the spammers
either creating fake accounts or directly hacking into legitimate
users' accounts.
Often the form of the attack will be seen in a combination of
"friend" requests, wall posts, private messages and social
networking applications.
"There are steps that consumers can take to stop themselves
falling victim to the seven deadly sins of social networking spam,
but the only fool-proof way to protect users from attacks is for
social networking sites themselves to have effective security
solutions in place," said Neil Cook, EMEA head of technology
services at Cloudmark.
"Only by stopping all forms of online abuse can social
networking sites be confident that both the platforms and
subscribers are protected against today's known abuses and
tomorrow's advanced threats."
The seven deadly sins of social networking
spam:
- Dating spam - a personal message, often from a woman,
to a male social network user inviting them to start a romantic
relationship. Once contact is secured, this attack proceeds in much
the same way as bride e-mail scams
- Profile and IM lures - spammers act as legitimate
friends or potential new friends interested in getting to know the
user in order to lure them to a fake profile page or Instant
Messenger conversation
- Redirection to inappropriate or dangerous websites - a
message is sent to a user, warning them that photographs or rumours
about them have been posted on an external site and urging them to
go to the site to view
- Nigerian attacks - similar to Nigerian 419 spam
traditionally seen over e-mail, social networking users are
targeted with messages alerting them to a fake inheritance or
access to a rich stranger's fortune
- Fake jobs - sending personal messages or wall posts,
spammers, posing as an employer, offer social network users
fantastic job opportunities in order to spark conversation that
will allow an avenue for further spam, phishing, malware or
scams
- Competitor social network lure - invitations that seem
to be from legitimate friends are sent to users via wall posts or
personal messages urging them to visit virtually unknown social
networking sites
- Religion-based spam - spammers use social networking
sites to preach to, and attempt to proselytise users for various
religions.