Social networks riddled with malware

One in 600 profile pages on social networks host some form of malware, a malicious code that attacks a PC, a new study has found.

Research by security firm ScanSafe analysed over five billion web requests in July.

Traffic to social networking sites – such as MySpace and Bebo – thought to be popular with teens and students , accounted for one per cent of all web use in the workplace, the company found.

"Social networking sites have been newsworthy because of the concern over our children’s safety," said Eldar Tuvey, CEO and co-founder, ScanSafe. But he warned that such sites could expose people to harmful software as well.

"Users are frequently subject to unwanted spyware and adware that can compromise their PCs, track online behaviour and degrade PC performance," Tuvey said.

Closed social networks, such as Facebook, which requires users to have a university email address or business networking site LinkedIn , were less susceptible to infection than open networks. No malware at all was found on LinkedIn.

ScanSafe also discovered referrals to adult personal sites, such as adultfriendfinder.com on social networks popular with teens.

During July, the research found that on the whole the volume of spyware increased by 19 per cent, while web viruses decreased by 14 per cent.

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