- Kenneth Hein

NEW YORK Sure everyone is Tweeting, friending one another on Facebook and getting LinkedIn, but at what cost? A survey released today by the CMO Council and security software maker AVG found that less than a third of social community members are taking steps to prevent cyber attacks.
 
Of the 250 consumers surveyed in the second quarter of this year, 64 percent said they change their passwords infrequently or never. Fifty-seven percent fail to adjust their privacy settings on regular basis.
 
What's more, 21 percent accept contact offerings from members they do not know, 26 percent share files within social networks and 64 percent click on links offered by contacts. Complicating matters is the fact that more than half of the people polled said they let roommates and friends sign onto social networks using their computers.
 
By making themselves vulnerable, 55 percent of respondents said they have encountered phishing attacks, 47 percent have been victims of malware and almost 20 percent have experienced identity theft.
 
"As social networking populations grow globally and the proliferation of niche social networks and mobile offerings extends the reach of social communities, the threats and vulnerabilities are escalating accordingly," said Donovan Neale-May, executive director of the CMO Council, in a statement. "More frequent breaches and outbreaks on popular social sites are a testament to the need for a more preventative mindset and threat-alert culture among community users."