Severe and different types of security threats are plaguing Fortune 100 companies’ social media accounts, according to Proofpoint, Inc, a US security-as-a-service provider. Devin Redmond, vice president and general manager of Nexgate for Proofpoint, said: “Increasingly, the Fortune 100 are losing money, having their audiences attacked, and experiencing brand damage on their own social media presences. Company-affiliated social pages, profiles and accounts are the next big attack surfaces for fraud, phishing, hacking and data theft. Threats to corporate social media accounts and programs have not received the appropriate level of attention—much of that is due to the lack of understanding regarding the scope and types of security threats.”
The company says that social media threats can be as damaging and costly to a brand as other corporate network compromises, digital fraud, malicious email scams and phishes. The firm says that it is imperative that social media professionals and IT security teams understand these threat types and incorporate security in their social media strategies. Findings from “The State of Social Media Infrastructure 2014, Part 2: Security Threats to the Social Infrastructure of the Fortune 100” include:
There are three main categories of security threats including unauthorized accounts, social account compromises, and harmful content.
On average, two out of five (40 per cent) Facebook accounts claiming to represent a Fortune 100 brand are unauthorised.
On average, one out of five Twitter accounts claiming to represent a Fortune 100 brand are similarly unauthorised.
In aggregate, Fortune 100 brands are experiencing at least one compromise per business day on their social media channels.
Social media spam grew sevenfold since mid-2013 when the previous “State of Social Media Spam” report was released.
Proofpoint suggests that the Fortune 100 are a prime example of the tug-of-war between the widespread adoption of new social communications and the widely unresolved security threats to social media infrastructure. To uncover social media threat trends, Proofpoint did a threat analysis on the social media presence of all Fortune 100 firms for the 12-months from July 2013 to June 2014. To download a copy of the State of Social Media Infrastructure report visit www.proofpoint.com/stateofsocial2.
