Cybercrime spreads on Facebook

Cybercrime is rapidly spreading on Facebook as fraudsters prey on users who think the world鈥檚 top social networking site is a safe haven on the Internet.

Lisa Severens, a clinical trials manager from Worcester, Massachusetts, learned the hard way. A virus took control of her laptop and started sending pornographic photos to colleagues.

鈥淚 was mortified about having to deal with it at work,鈥?said Severens, whose employer had to replace her computer because the malicious software could not be removed.

Cybercrime, which costs US companies and individuals billions of dollars a year, is spreading fast on Facebook because such scams target and exploit those naive to the dark side of social networking, security experts say.

While News Corp鈥檚 MySpace was the most popular hangout for cyber criminals two years ago, experts say hackers are now entrenched on Facebook, whose membership has soared from 120 million in December to more than 200 million today.

Scammers break into accounts posing as friends of users, sending spam that directs them to websites that steal personal information and spread viruses. Hackers tend to take control of infected PCs for identity theft, spamming and other mischief.

Facebook manages security from its central headquarters in Palo Alto, California, screening out much of the spam and malicious user-targeted software to make Facebook a safer place to surf than the broader Internet, but criminals are relentless and some break through Facebook鈥檚 considerable filter.

The rise in attacks reflects Facebook鈥檚 massive growth. Company spokesman Simon Axten said that as the number of users has increased, the percentage of successful attacks has stayed about the same, remaining at less than 1 percent of members for five years.

But ultimately Facebook says its members are responsible for their own security.

鈥淲e do our best to keep Facebook safe, but we cannot guarantee it,鈥?Facebook says in a warning in a section of the site on the terms and conditions of use, which members might not bother to read.

鈥淧eople implicitly trust social networking sites because they don鈥檛 understand the real threats and dangers. It鈥檚 like walking down the street and trusting everybody you meet,鈥?said Randy Abrams, a researcher with security software maker ESET.

(Agencies)