Social networks are "lucrative hot beds" for cyber scams as crooks endeavour to dupe members of online communities, a Microsoft security report says.
"Phishing" attacks that use seemingly legitimate messages to trick people into clicking on booby-trapped links, buying bogus software, or revealing information, rocketed 1200 per cent at social networkslast year, it said.
"We continue to see cyber criminals evolve attack methods such as a significant rise in social network phishing," Microsoft malware protection centre manager Vinny Gullotto said.
Phishing using social networking as a "lure" represented 84.5 per cent of all such trickery in December as compared with 8.3 per cent at the start of 2010, according to the report.
Microsoft analysed data gathered from more than 600 million computer systems worldwide from July through December for the semi-annual study.
"The popularity of social networking sites has created new opportunities for cyber criminals to not only directly impact users, but also friends, colleagues and family through impersonation," the report said.
"These techniques add to an existing list of social engineering techniques, such as financial and product promotions, to extort money or trick users into downloading malicious content."
Social engineering is a reference to fooling people to access machines or data instead of trying to hack into networks.
Microsoft noticed a "polarisation" of cyber criminal behaviour and a surge in the use of "marketing-like" deception tactics to steal money from people.
Criminals used malicious software to trick people with false advertisements, fake security software, and pay-per-click schemes that generated cash when links were activated, Microsoft said. Detections of software crafted to infect machines with pop-up advertisements rose 70 per cent from the middle of last year to the end of December.
Rogue security software, "scareware", was one of the most common ways for cyber criminals to get money out of people.
The ploy seeks to dupe internet users by pretending to find viruses on computers and then offering to sell a program to fix the situation.
Computer users are advised to guard against threats by keeping programs updated, using reputable security software, and not clicking links or opening files without making certain they are safe.AFP
