Football’s 2010 World Cup has already registered a number of significant firsts, not least being that it is being held in Africa. It’s also the first time that millions of fans will be able to make use of social networks to boost their experience.
Comments Symantec’s Con Mallon: “There’s no doubt that social networks like Twitter and Facebook will play a major role in 2010 as fans use the platforms to display videos and photographs, share anecdotes and, perhaps most importantly, showcase their football expertise in heated debate.
“We expect activity to spike dramatically from today (Friday) and, unfortunately, predict a concurrent rise in fraudulent activity. Users are, therefore, cautioned to resist the temptation of simply clicking on just anything, no matter how alluring it may appear.”
Mallon recommends that users ensure that all their security systems are activated and that they take steps to check the legitimacy of all links they receive through the networks.
Symantec research has shown that the majority of cybercrime attacks happen through legitimate websites that have been compromised by attackers – the victims are unaware that while they are on a “normal” looking website, they are, in fact, exposed to malicious content.
Adds Mallon: “We’ve developed a scanner for Facebook, known as Norton Safe Web, which scans incoming news feeds and the like, checks the veracity of URLs and protects the user against malware, phishing and other common scams. It’s an effective protective tool and, best of all, costs nothing.”
Users should also beware of accepting new friends claiming to be likeminded football fans and be especially wary of new sites set up around teams or specific players.
“Also,” says Mallon, “travelling fans should be wary of revealing details of their current whereabouts on the social networks. Criminals are known to monitor the sites and use this information to plan robberies.
“Remember to update your privacy settings on the social networks and never disclose confidential personal or financial information unless you are sure that the request is legitimate.”