Web 2.0 Security: Things to Know about the Social Web

Websense CTO Dan Hubbard outlines four ways companies can protect their information from threats and compromise on the social Web.

1) Most Web Posts on Blogs and Forums are Actually Unwanted Content (Spam and Malware) As more and more people interact with each other on sites allowing user-generated content, such as blogs, forums and chat rooms, spammers and cybercriminals have taken note and abuse this ability to spread spam, post links back to their wares and direct users to malicious sites. Websense research shows that 85 percent of all Web posts on blogs and forums are unwanted content - spam and malware - and five percent are actually malware, fraud and phishing attacks. An average active blog gets between 8,000 and 10,000 links posted per month; so users must be wary of clicking on links in these sites.

Additionally, just because a site is reputable, doesn't mean its safe. Blogs and message boards belonging to Sony Pictures, Digg, Google, YouTube and Washington State University have all hosted malicious comment spam recently, and My.BarackObama.com was infected with malicious comment spam. More on CIO.com Web 2.0 Definition and Solutions Can Social Networking Be Secure at Work? How to Use Social Networking Safely: Tips From Security Pros

2) The Top Search Results from Google are Safe, Right? Search engine poisoning is growing in popularity and used by cybercriminals to boost links to Web sites with malicious code or spam, up in the search rankings. Many users assume that the top results are "safe" but really they are directed to infected Web sites. For example in March, basketball fans who typed "March Madness" into their Google search bar and clicked on many of the top ranking links were actually led to Web sites infected with "rogue antivirus" software (see number 3).

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