According to a recent report by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1,000-strong batches of hacked or compromised Twitter accounts are currently being sold between cybercriminals for as little as $100 (£68).
Commenting on the findings, Sophos senior technology consultant Graham Cluley said hackers have started to regard social networks as a 'more and more important way' of launching attacks.
'Criminal gangs can deliver attacks via social networks just as easily as they can via traditional email, but unlike corporate email systems this vector is typically not being scanned for spam and malicious content,' he explained.
Mr Cluley also cited research by his company which found that there has been a 70 per cent increase in the number of social network-based spam and malware attacks reported over the past 12 months.
In addition, he claimed that 72 per cent of companies are worried about the risk social networking creates for their corporate infrastructure and its stored data. He recommended firms adopt real-time protection to guard against spam or malicious applications.
Commenting on the findings, Sophos senior technology consultant Graham Cluley said hackers have started to regard social networks as a 'more and more important way' of launching attacks.
'Criminal gangs can deliver attacks via social networks just as easily as they can via traditional email, but unlike corporate email systems this vector is typically not being scanned for spam and malicious content,' he explained.
Mr Cluley also cited research by his company which found that there has been a 70 per cent increase in the number of social network-based spam and malware attacks reported over the past 12 months.
In addition, he claimed that 72 per cent of companies are worried about the risk social networking creates for their corporate infrastructure and its stored data. He recommended firms adopt real-time protection to guard against spam or malicious applications.
