A new ESET UK survey found that 80 percent of IT professionals believe that social media is an easy way for hackers to gain access to corporate networks because their security is often neglected. 
In addition, one 36 per cent admits that their company could be hacked by accessing a social networking worker's workplace access.
The survey, conducted in May of 2015 on a sample of 200 IT professionals, also revealed that 12 percent of organizations have encountered a case of virus entry into the corporate network from social media. Other findings reveal that despite the fact that 56 percent of respondents reported the existence of a corporate policy to limit the use of social media, 56 per cent admits that this policy has not actually been implemented.
In the context of the investigation, ESET UK also asked 1.000 employees consumers to determine their opinion of social media in the workplace. When asked why their organization limits their use of social media, 36 percent of respondents said it was to increase productivity, rather than for security reasons.
Worrying is the fact when respondents were asked whether they or someone they know had experienced a theft or attempted theft of their Facebook identity, a quarter of respondents answered yes.
"Social media are often overlooked completely in the security behavior of an organization because they are not recognized as a threat, but that is wrong. Hackers are constantly looking for ways to gain access to corporate networks, and social media can often be an open door, "said Mark James, Safety Officer at ESET UK.
“Cybercriminals use the social media ως ένα τρόπο για να εισάγουν το malware και τα exploit ξεπερνώντας τα εταιρικά firewalls. Μπορούν επίσης να ξεγελάσουν τους χρήστες των μέσων κοινωνικής δικτύωσης να επισκεφτούν τόπους που θεωρούν ως αληθινούς, σε μια προσπάθεια να υποκλέψουν πληροφορίες. Ωστόσο, η μεγαλύτερη ανησυχία είναι ότι οι επαγγελματίες IT δεν έχουν picture για το τι κάνουν οι εργαζόμενοι στα social media και αν οι σελίδες που επισκέπτονται αποτελούν απειλή για την εταιρία»
According to other findings of the consumer survey, asking if they have clicked "I like" on a Facebook page to win something, 33 percent said yes, but when asked if they actually won the prize, only three percent he said yes. Consumers were also asked if they would use the "I do not like" option on a Facebook page if they realized it was false, with 12 percent saying they would not do it because they did not think it would make sense.
"One of the biggest threats to social media is like-jacking. Like-jacking is a malicious technique of cheating users of a website that leads them to post a status update on Facebook for a site that they really did not want to click on "I Like", which then allows the spread of phishing and spam .
This is a very common occurrence and usually involves a lure video που κατευθύνει τους χρήστες σε μια ιστοσελίδα που έχει παραβιαστεί, η οποία στη συνέχεια προσπαθεί να εγκαταστήσει κακόβουλο λογισμικό στον υπολογιστή τους. Το Like-jacking είναι μια μεγάλη απειλή για τους καταναλωτές και θα πρέπει να είναι προσεκτικοί σχετικά με τις σελίδες για τις οποίες χρησιμοποιούν την επιλογή «Μου αρέσει» στα μέσα κοινωνικής δικτύωσης, καθώς μπορεί να αποβεί πιο επιζήμιο από ότι πιστεύουν» καταλήγει ο James.
