CRN writes the following about Social Networking Threats. For the full article head over to State Of Technology Security: Top 10 Biggest Security Threats

Social Networking Threats made the Top 10 list for the first time, coming in third place with 34.4 percent of the partner vote. But partners have acknowledged that social networking attacks pose a very real and serious threat. End users have been exposed to countless Trojans, Internet worms and phishing attacks targeting social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Attackers have exploited a wealth of personal and identifying information that users freely share online to commit identity theft crimes. In addition, social networking sites carry with them a strong trust component. Unlike spam attacks, which typically originate from an unfamiliar or suspicious source, social networking attacks often appear to come from someone the user knows and trusts, compelling them to click on infected links or malicious files that ultimately download malware onto their systems.
The market for hackers has also been flung wide open as more businesses utilize social networking sites to promote their business and establish important contacts. And there appears to be no reprieve in sight as the social networking market continues to expand.

While we promote Network Velocity on Twitter, we also advise clients to filter employee web surfing to protect sensitive company data and reduce expensive malware cleanup. Social Networking can be a great marketing tool, but due to the rampant popularity of sites like Facebook, hackers are increasingly targeting Social Networking sites with malicious software. Social Networking can be used as a tool to communicate to your clients, peers and vendors but be sure you are in control and using Social Networking to your advantage. In the work environment, restricted access for is still the best policy to avoid productivity problems and security/malware breaches.

For most businesses, we believe the best Social Networking strategy is to blog frequently and use Twitter and other sites to point traffic to your blog. In this way control of your message stays in your hands and Social Networking is used to drive traffic to your site where visits can be measured and ROI calculated. Keep in mind the Social aspect of Social Media. Communication should not be one way. When a person engages with your online presence, respond!

If you’re not sure what Twitter is, read our blog post here.

Network Velocity is proud to be a Fortinet partner. Congrats Fortinet! Video below:

While the above definition of Twitter is true, it only scratches the surface. Twitter is also described as a micro blogging service. Users can update their readers with mini-posts on a very frequent basis. Consider that power users on Twitter have upwards of 50,000 subscribers to their Twitter feed and over 17,000 updates. That is a lot of direct communication to a specific audience. That’s straightforward, but there’s more…

Twitter has a pyramid effect. If I share information on Twitter and people who consume it also share with people who read their Twitter and they share with their friends, you see that a single post can rapidly spread. There is already the “Twitter effect”, defined as when a popular Twitter user shares a website link and the resulting swell in traffic crashes the site.

Further delving into the question of “What is Twitter?” Some would argue that Twitter is the tip of the Social Media spear. Social Media is another relatively new term. From Wikipedia: Social media are primarily Internet and mobile-based tools for sharing and discussing information among human beings
Still with us? Great, why should you care about Twitter? Twitter is impactful because people are moving towards consulting their peers in real time about their experiences via Social Media. Had a great steak? Take a picture with your phone and share it, instantly, with all of your followers. Wondering why traffic is so bad? Ask the “Twitterverse” and find out. Looking to interact directly with the consumers of your products? Bingo! Twitter is your answer!

Not convinced about the power of Twitter? Consider this, the first pictures from the crash of flight 1549 in the Hudson River in January were posted via Twitter and picked up almost immediately by mainstream media!

There are a lot of resources about Twitter and how to use it for personal and/or business gain. We suggest you spend some time learning about Twitter before actually using it. If you have any questions, feel free to get in contact with us. We would be happy to get you started. And of course, we’re also on Twitter.