Afifth of online attacks havetargeted social networking sitesin 2009, according
to a new security report.
Hackers are increasingly exploiting user content on Web 2.0
sites such asTwitter. Social networks did not feature in the same
report last year, and have replaced government and law enforcement
sites as the most hacked.
Ryan Barnett, director of application security research for
Breach Security, said, "The dramatic rise in attacks against social
networking sites this year can primarily be attributed to attacks
on popular new technologies like Twitter, where cross-site
scripting and CSRF worms were unleashed.
"Looking back at 2008, a notable election year,
government-related organisations were the top-ranked attack victims
and have now dropped to number three."
The Web Hacking Incident Database report, by Nebulas Solutions
Group, also found there was a 30% increase in overall web attacks
compared withthe first half of last year.
Nick Garlick, managing director of Nebulas Solutions Group,
said, "We have seen and heard anecdotal evidence that Web 2.0
applications are being attacked more frequently and more
aggressively, but the scale of these findings shows very clearly
that organisations must now look very closely at their security
policies and procedures around Web 2.0. Many companies still donot
fully comprehend the security risks that social networking sites
and user-generated content can represent."