Facebook the Most Dangerous Social Tool For Businesses 142
wiredmikey writes "According to a recent study Facebook is by far the most popular and most dangerous social media tool among small-to-medium-sized businesses, with 69 percent of respondents reporting that they have active accounts with this site, followed by Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn. Facebook is also the top culprit for malware infections and privacy violations, e.g. the leaking of sensitive company information. YouTube took the second spot for malware infection, while Twitter contributed to a significant number of privacy violations. For companies suffering financial losses from employee privacy violations, Facebook was again cited as the most common social media site where these losses occurred, followed by Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn."
"Dangerous" is ambiguous (Score:4, Interesting)
Dangerous in what form? I don't get that.
For malware specficially, well I guess that isn't surprising, I have a facebook account and I always see my friends posting links that are clearly spam. I guess some other people see this and click on it (by accident or not) and then they get infected too, and so it spreads.
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Malware is reportedly up about 50% this year. Wondering who the targets are?
GData Software , a German anti-virus firm, details some malware numbers. [gdatasoftware.co.uk]
"Dangerous" in the hands of HR (Score:5, Insightful)
We take things like facebook too seriously. Nobody in the workplace should care about a teachers "drunken pirate" costume party photo for example, let alone the teacher losing their job over it.
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the real problem is that most HR people are not worth the CHON they're made of. Unfortunately this is a real side-effect of our willing to leave people issues to others who we feel will do them better. well they might be more comfortable making decisions with the lives of others, but that's usually because they're a sociopath.
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Re:"Dangerous" is ambiguous (Score:4, Insightful)
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Strange, facebook always open, people send me lots of garbage, yet my Ubuntu machines with no firewall and now AV seems completely unaffected.
If I had posted that I'd be sure to blame my computer for the typos, but since it's not the computer it must be something else ... may just the 'U' in Ubuntu? ;-)
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You really should have a firewall.
*nix machines are effectively immune to viruses. However, that's not the only security problem to worry about.
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*nix machines are effectively immune to viruses.
Just a note for anyone reading these comments - the parents statement is made up and not true.
Thank you for your time.
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The number of viruses that have ever directly affected *nix systems is very small. This is directly due to the model of authentication and limited privileges that has been present in Unix and its derivatives from the beginning.
When I said "effectively immune," I did not mean completely immune. I meant, the odds of infection are negligible, as there have been very few *nix viruses, and those have exploited security holes which have been patched.
Also, I was distinguishing between viruses and other forms of ma
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Slashdot in 2010 (Score:5, Insightful)
Almost all of the last 20 or so stories have been about either social networking sites or Google and its products. Man, I remember when programming topics actually used to make it to the front page. You know, news for nerds.
Re:Slashdot in 2010 (Score:4, Insightful)
welcome to being a market demographic.
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Did we get there by getting older?
Re:Slashdot in 2010 (Score:5, Informative)
Being generous and counting Android (even though it was only briefly owned by Google between the time Google bought it and the time Google transferred it to the Open Handset Alliance) as a "Google product", and going further with that generosity and counting a story about HTC Android phones as being about Android rather than the specific phones and thus a "Google product", I count 7 of the 18 current front-page stories that are either about social networking sites or Google and its product (one of which is about a forthcoming Google social networking product.)
Being even more generous and assuming that the two next most recent stories were also about social networking sites or Google and its products, that's still less than half of the last 20 stories.
Aren't "nerds" generally supposed to be detail-oriented and numerate?
Depends on what sections he reads (Score:2)
Actually, I guess it depends on what sections he reads, since Slashdot does offer some customizability in what you see on the front page. Someone who isn't interested in idle, games, etc, and reads the IT and/or technology sections, or even only reads one of the Slashdot sub-sites, might see a different set of stories than you do.
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I don't think there is any combination of Slashdot sections for which the almost all of the most recent 20 stories (either now or when the post making the claim was posted) would concern either Social networking sites or Google products, though I will admit I haven't actually checked every possible combination of sections to see if there is any way to make the claim remotely approach the truth.
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Even counted generously, less than half the stories were about those topics, and not all of those were positive stories. Negative stories about something are hardly "shilling" for the subject of the story.
If you want a consistent mix of subjects, got to an outlet that has a narrow, s
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Lebbo attempts to cast blockquote. Oh noes!!!! critical fumble!
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Man, I remember when programming topics actually used to make it to the front page. You know, news for nerds.
Meh, the daily astroturf about Ruby On Rails a year or so back weren't any better. ;)
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Almost all of the last 20 or so stories have been about either social networking sites or Google and its products. Man, I remember when programming topics actually used to make it to the front page. You know, news for nerds.
What's especially amazing is that Slashdot covers so many stories about popular sites that require having friends!
Hmm.. (Score:4, Funny)
Oh my lord... there's MALWARE on Facebook?? I thought all those links for free iPads were real! Noooooo!!!
This shouldn't surprise anyone, really.
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Anecdotal proofs don't hold much weight in the real world. Science on the other hand does.
Well, your post doesn't get 'Funny' in the /. world but "there's MALWARE on Facebook??" on the other hand does. Gotta know your audience.
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People think its ok to use facebook at work? (Score:4, Informative)
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"Companies should simply block social networking sites or have policies against there use."
How this can be offtopic about a news telling that social networking sites pose a financial danger for companies?
It might be "-1 idiotic" but never off topic.
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Re:People think its ok to use facebook at work? (Score:4, Insightful)
then unblock facebook on that one persons or groups computers, not site wide. should be easy to implement.
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They did this at my office last year. While the admins weren't too happy about it, I'm pretty sure their productivity went up.
No one quit over it though.
Crap, I keep forgetting I'm not in "this generation" anymore.
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I know a local Uni which uses a time-based approach to this for their office staff. Social Networking and personal email is blocked outside of the Lunch period, and lunch is assigned to half our slots between 12 and 2p
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And why are you not helping them by updating their status with all sorts of "interesting" posts and links, and sending out a bazillion "friend" requests on their behalf?
It's the only way they'll learn.
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But how many companies are using facebook (Score:2)
- New products.
- New discounts
- New prices
Remember FTA, business's have accounts on facebook. Not that workers are posting to facebook. Your only addressing part of the article.
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most of them leave it logged in when they go home
If your coworker leaves his computer logged in and his facebook open, it's your obligation to start modifying his profile and posting cool updates.
The Most Dangerous Tool (Score:5, Insightful)
"Oooh! A talking moose wants my credit card number. That seems fair!"
The most dangerous tool is the one sitting in the chair.
Re:The Most Dangerous Tool (Score:4, Interesting)
"The most dangerous tool is the one sitting in the chair."
Back in my auto shop days, we had a term for a certain diagnosis--The Loose Nut Behind the Wheel.
It referred to either the driver/owner being the source of the mechanical problem (such as pulling the parking brake out to hang ones purse on, then merrily driving away), or the driver/owner was simply insane (we had our share, and oddly enough, sanity is not a requirement for a drivers license).
Of course, this was a diagnosis we kept to ourselves. Explaining such a diagnosis to the driver/owner was usually awkward--"Sir, the reason your Ford Escort is never going to go straight again is because you weigh 600lbs. An alignment isn't going to fix anything. You just need to switch to low-octane fuel".
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'I D 10 T' error.
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Or an ID10T error.
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I prefer the term PICNIC (Problem In Chair Not In Computer) because people recognize the word and it has a comforting "sounds easy" connotation. Also as a bonus, somebody unfortunately inquisitive can be told how it is spelled (like it sounds) and won't immediately find a google term explaining it as they do for PEBCAK, or worse realize that their sticky note is calling them a name (ID 10t) and complain to the boss or HR.
This is handy when noting help desk tickets because other savy IT staff will recognize
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Explaining such a diagnosis to the driver/owner was usually awkward--"Sir, the reason your Ford Escort is never going to go straight again is because you weigh 600lbs. An alignment isn't going to fix anything. You just need to switch to low-octane fuel".
"Good news sir. We have a fix for you and you don't have to pay us a cent. Now to the fix: How much does your wife weigh?"
Re:Loose Nut (Score:2)
I want to repurpose your term! I never knew so many people can't spell "lose"! :: Loose : Goatse
Thanks for reminding me of a Sig I wanted for a couple of weeks.
Lose : Goats
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Is the talking moose's name, Bullwinkle?
Is it Facebook or Windows which is dangerous? (Score:1, Insightful)
Facebook and similar sites attract a lot of malware, true. How about not using a platform known to be hypersensitive to this malware when accessing these sites? Why is this simple and effective solution never proposed?
Why oh why oh why does the average IT person not contemplate this effective, cheap - yes cheap - and sensible solution? It is almost as if there is a religious dogma against pointing a finger at Windows. Even the most die-hard Windows fanatic surely should see the sense in this approach? If yo
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Now I might be considered a troll, but why oh why does the average Linux person (see, I can generalize as well!) always try to fix the tool but NOT the user?
Irony apart, the issue with getting "infected" doesn't get solved by switching the Operating System. It might get partially solved or it might help somehow, but it's not a solution. There's no permanent solution, there's just commo
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Why would I repeat something which is false? Repeating it does not make it true.
If you want the truth and nothing but the truth you should realise that it is a combination of the tools used and the people who get to use them. If you still have any doubt about which of these tools is more susceptible to malware, well... good luck to you.
About those people... what, in your opinion, is easier to change: habits, or tools
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About those people... what, in your opinion, is easier to change: habits, or tools? If you say 'habits'... good luck to you again.
Um, isn't that YOU are trying to do? Change the habit of using Windows? Don't say it's not a habit. Yes, sir, it is. :) - but let me point out that there are people who use "susceptible" tools and are fine, and people who use "bett
Clicking on a link out of misinformation or not having common sense is something that can be changed through education. Altering a tool so it becomes 100% foolproof is impossible. Now I don't want to get into the whole "Windows vs Linux" retarded discussion, I've had enough of it
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Because the potential loss from NOT using Windows would be even greater. You can't run a small-medium sized retail business without Windows... there's no robust small to mid-sized point of sale system that's not Windows based. There's no functional accounting software that's not Windows based. There are simply not enough applications for most businesses to
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Find an accountant interested in computing. Get info from the tax department. Find the 30 or 500 pages that need to be sent in. Learn about the front end of raw data, see what the Windows app does and how it formats the end product. Talk to the front end hardware scanners/data entry/input makers and ask for details.
If some Windows developer can work it out, so can a Linux user. At some poin
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But can the linux user do it for less than $2000 (the high end of a small accounting software package) and support it and all bug fixes and patches for less than $500/yr (the high end of a maintenance contract)? Can you update the tax rates and schedules in all fifty states for $200 every single year?
Remember, the opportunity cost to a company is about $75-$100/hr on a typical employee. At this scale, writing custom apps is not cost effective.
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My local minimart runs s/370.
Well, apart from SAP, Oracle Financials, Compiere, LegderSMB...
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"I am truely flabbergasted by this resistance to change."
Why?
The AV industry would be doomed if everyone applied your fancy-schmancy "wisdom". Think of the jobs(and billions of dollars!!) lost.
Facetiousness aside, it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if companies like McAfee and Symantec were covertly behind some of the malware/virus releases. We already know as fact that some unscrupulous individuals will infect machines just to sell a fix (often bogus itself). Is it really that hard to believe, in thi
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NATO needed encryption, but the ~NSA/GCHQ where not going to allow any real encryption to be exported around the world.
So they gifted safe networks but their units where unsafe on site. They leaked plain text near the unit.
Poor tempest allowed the ~NSA/GCHQ to read all and the units where gifted to NATO.
Windows seems to be the same leaky software solution that was gifted to the world.
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So is firefox with no-script, and it will stop the latest 0-day exploits too :)
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Why does there have to be one popular alternative? Why not loads of alternatives? The web is - or should be - OS agnostic so it should not matter one bit which OS you happen to use. Divide and conquer!
Apart from that it remains to be seen whether the contenders to Windows' crown are as susceptible to malware.
My previous message got moderated as 'Offtopic' by someone wh
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Sure, they could write the malware, but they would also have to walk users through apt-get installing it. "Ok, add this line to your /etc/apt/sources.list and then save. You remembered to type sudo before you started your editor, right? Good, you're one step closer to GETTING YOUR FREE IPAD!"
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That's /bin/ls in most (all?) distros. /bin isn't normally user-writable.
I don't know, but mounting /home with noexec by default wouldn't be very wacked. I have most of my filesystems mounted noexec (hmm.. though /home isn't one of them, I'll admit). Most users don't need executables under /home, though some do.
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Heck, there are even tools [chkrootkit.org] that deal with *NIX rootkits and the like. Several [rootkit.nl] of [ossec.net] them [sourceforge.net], in fact.
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People push the idea because it's true. Take a look at the list of security vulnerabilities for almost any other platform, and you'll see several that could be exploited for distributing malware. Hell, the last iPhone 'jailbreak' was enough to get root access to the phone as a result of visiting a web page. From there, you could easily scan the person's inbox for 'sent from my iPhone' and send a mail to everyone who has that inane footer on their mails a link to the exploit and install something nefariou
Youtube? (Score:4, Interesting)
How do you get infected with malware from youtube?
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How do you get infected with malware from youtube?
I'm thinking 2 ways: links in video descriptions/comments/etc and there was the recent XSS flaw.
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You start by running Windows ;-)
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When somebody figures out how to abuse the HTML5 H.264 format.
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When somebody figures out how to abuse the HTML5 H.264 format.
You're talking about the future, they're talking about the past.
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Doesn't it require Flash?
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Doesn't it require Flash?
Sorta, they're migrating to HTML5, but that would be "getting infected from flash", wouldn't it?
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No, that'd be getting infected with the Flash malware.
Re:Youtube? (Score:4, Insightful)
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Mod parent up. I don't understand this either. Sure there are Flash exploits, but they're not hosted by YouTube.
If you were infected with certain variants of Koobface, it would direct you to fake YouTube sites. The real YouTube had nothing to do with it.
In July there was an XSS exploit in some of YouTube's comments. There was no malware/infection, the page itself would generate popups or redirect you. It lasted all of 2 hours.
Oh well (Score:4, Funny)
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Linux users - Immune to STDs
Immune, or just avoided by the attack vectors?
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This is silly. (Score:2)
I thought they might actually talk about something meaningful. With businesses using facebook and its ilk for conducting business, I thought TFA might talk about how small businesses are using it incorrectly and turning off customers or something.
It seems a lot more pertinent, as people tend to think that it is either a great tool for communication, both positive AND negative.
I'm a Mac user - this is news to me (Score:2, Interesting)
Okay, I'm no troll, but this is news to me. How does this happen? You all run antivirus software, and yet somehow actually *visiting* a site can infect you. So how does this work? Can you visit a site wearing a 'condom', or do you know, somehow, that you shouldn't click on something.
No trolling, but as a Mac user I click what I like. How do you know what to click or not click?
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So how does this work? Can you visit a site wearing a 'condom', or do you know, somehow, that you shouldn't click on something.
You know, even a condom does not prevent pregnacy 100%. Neither does the pill. (My neighbors half year young daughter is a perfect example of the latter; which does not mean she is not loved by her parents, quite the contrary!) Same with anty virus programs. Of course you CAN get infected dispite running them. It is just less likely...
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A) the machine is using XP / browser without process sandboxing (this requires Vista/7)
B) the browser has admin privs (XP, or UAC disabled)
C) browser plugins are exploited / plugins can run without request
C is the default configuration for the three browsers but it can be changed. As a result, 99% of malware today is taking advantage of a plugin.
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Securityweek is pants (Score:4, Insightful)
To summarize: Alarmist e-zine for PHB's confirms their suspicions that Facebook and YouTube are, in fact, the devil. Why is this on Slashd...oh, it's samzenpus. Never mind...
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If I would have to make decisons... (Score:2)
If I would have to make decisions in a company, I would block Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and a few other sites which are popular but not necessary for company life. I am aware that a certain amount of private activity is fine in corporate environment, but certain sites draw just far too much time on them on a regular basis.
I for myself do not have a Facebook nor a Twitter account. And I use the Leechblock extension on Firefox to keep me of unnecessary sites during work hours which I otherwise would visit fa
Who are the survey respondents? (Score:5, Insightful)
Once again we have another poll which is somehow supposed to represent actual facts.
This is a "study" by a company that sells computer security "solutions" to small and medium-sized businesses. Haven't we all learned by now that these reports are largely designed to scare PHBs into buying the products and services these companies peddle? There's absolutely nothing in TFA that enables us to determine how the firms were chosen, who was interviewed, how they were selected, and whether they have even a clue about how sites like Facebook and YouTube might be the culprits.
Enough breathless reporting of stupid press releases, Slashdot editors. Just because SecurityWeek has no editorial scruples doesn't mean you shouldn't have them.
wow (Score:2)
I believe this claim about Facebook's "danger" (Score:5, Interesting)
I've seen people do some really dumb stuff on Facebook that they almost certainly wouldn't do elsewhere.
A few weeks ago, there was a viral (in the true sense of the word) page that got popular really fast - I think it claimed to let you see who'd un-friended you, but I might have that bit wrong. Anyway, after an acquaintance got hit by this, I went to check it out. Basically this page said "here's how you do it - just copy and paste the following into your browser's address bar". This was followed by what was pretty obviously a bunch of hex instructions (likely obfuscated javascript, but maybe vbscript) that apparently downloaded harmful code to the user's computer - and since the code was entered by the user, it didn't raise any red flags (maybe only by IE, maybe by other browsers as well - I didn't take it any further).
I can't imagine anyone in this day and age going to a random website and following these instructions - but on Facebook they were happy to! It was so breathtakingly stupid I had a hard time believing people fell for it; but they obviously did.
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... they were happy to! They were so breathtakingly stupid...
FTFY.
PEBKAC.
Re:The point is... (Score:4, Insightful)
IT's bigger then that. Human behavior is evolved to a social paradigm. With that certain expectation have become intrinsic to human interaction.
Not the internet has made it easy for a few jackasses to violate those rules of behavior in a massive and automated way.
This means people need to learn to ignore and change certain expectation. Not something that comes easy.
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