Report: Facebook, Twitter Being Targeted By Hackers More Than Ever Before

Think all you have to worry about when you log into Twitter, Facebook or FourSquare is the threat of an annoying spam attack, a viral worm or the release of your private information? Think again, and take caution. Sophisticated hackers are now using social networking sites as home base to launch targeted attacks, according to a new report from security firm Mandiant.

Think all you have to worry about when you log into Twitter, Facebook or FourSquare is the threat of an annoying spam attack, a viral worm or the release of your private information? Think again, and take caution. Sophisticated hackers are now using social networking sites as home base to launch targeted attacks, according to a new report from security firm Mandiant.

Mandiant’s annual “M-Trends” report, says the company has observed an increasing number of “Advanced Persistent Threats” that are hijacking legitimate social networks and Web based services, including Facebook, Google Chat and MSN as command and control networks for malware installations.

Mandiant warned APT attackers will, in the future, “increasingly leverage the broad array” of social networking sites to conduct their operations because they are widely available, offer anonymity and provide more versatility.

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