Industry News Home More stories like this... RSS Feed

Twitter spam 'on the rise', new report warns

While growing numbers of businesses and personal users are taking advantage of Twitter to stay in touch and network, criminals are also turning their attentions to the micro-blogging site, a new report has warned.

Until recently, Twitter spam had been relatively easy to identify, with low-level fraudsters sending out unsolicited links to users, most of which were simply deleted before being opened.

However, following on from a recent report that showed how cyber criminals are using keywords to spread computer viruses more effectively, so too is social networking fraud becoming ever-more complex.

Reporting for Fox News, Steven Kotler argues: "What was once maybe one or two [unwanted] messages a day has now risen to around ten per cent of everything that's showing up.

"By using computers to hunt for keywords and replying to 'relevant' usernames, spammers are dumping their Tweets into your 'timelines' - recent Twitter posts by yourself and everyone you're following," he added.

Just this week, Twitter was forced to remove a 'Best Video' scam from its site after it was revealed to contain malware.

PC Tools AntiVirus ensures that you are always protected against the latest viruses. Visit www.pctools.com to upgrade your protection