Social networkers risk losing their identities to hackers

Many adult users of social network sites such as MySpace and Facebook expose themselves to risk from identity thieves and hackers, The Register reports.
The focus of concerns over social networking sites has so far focused on incidents where online predators have used the sites to “groom” potential child victims for abuse. A new study by the US National Cyber Security Alliance looks at online behavior and the possibility of cyber-crime threats such as fraud, identity theft, computer spyware and viruses tied in with the use of social networking sites.
Although 57% of people who use social networking sites expressed concern about becoming victims of cyber-crime, they are still divulging information that may put them at risk. For example, 74% of the 2,163 adults quizzed in the survey said they had given out personal information, such as their email address, name and birthday.
The majority (83%) of adults who use social networking sites confessed that they have downloaded unknown files from other people’s profiles, potentially exposing themselves to malware as a result.
Nearly a third (31%) of adults who use social networking sites have responded to “phishy” (ie potential fraudulent) unsolicited email or instant messages, the survey found.