author: programming

Latest Security News | SecurityExtra.com

Attackers Use Fake Friends to Blend into Facebook

Posted: 16 Feb 2012 11:25 AM PST

Facebook: Fake Profiles vs. Real Users. The study analyzes a random sampling of 2,884 active Facebook accounts to identify key differences between average real user accounts and fake accounts created by attackers and spammers. Facebook, which filed for IPO, has become an important part of personal and business communication. The company consistently fights to keep attackers out of its network, most recently announcing its lawsuit against a marketing firm accused of “spreading spam through misleading and deceptive tactics”. The Barracuda Labs study provides yet another example of this "arms race" as an increasing number of attackers move to social networks to carry out their wares. Highlighted findings from the Barracuda Labs study include: Almost 60 percent of fake accounts claim to be bisexual, 10 times more than real users Fake accounts have six times more friends than real users, 726 versus 130 Fake accounts use photo tags over 100 times more than real users, 136 tags per four photos versus one tag per four photos Fake accounts almost always (97 percent) claim to be female, as opposed to 40 percent for real users “Likes, News Feeds and Apps have helped lead Facebook to its social network dominance and now attackers [...]