Viruses, lack of security threaten information on mobile devices

12:50 PM, Jan 8, 2012   |    comments
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DENVER - You may be seeing less spam in your email inbox and more on your Facebook wall, according to internet experts.

That's because spammers are increasingly targeting social media sites like Twitter and Facebook.

According to the Wall Street Journal, spammers hit four million Facebook users every day. However, Facebook is fighting back by blocking 200 million malicious actions a day. Those are posts with links to things like viruses, spyware and malware.

With more than 800 million users, experts say preventing and detecting spam on Facebook is becoming more difficult.

They say there are ways you can protect yourself and your devices.

"If you see a post on your wall that looks suspicious delete it immediately," Nicholas Skrepetos, CTO of consumer software for Support.com told 9NEWS. "If something doesn't look right it's probably not right. Don't install applications on Facebook if you aren't 100 percent sure that they're safe. If you see someone that says, 'Hey install this really cool application. It will let you see who's looking at your profile,' it's probably not true."

Skrepetos says social media users also need to be wary of posts or ads that promise free items such as iPads or other consumer electronics, and shortened URL's that redirect users to another page. He says the giveaways are often a hoax and the tiny URL's may redirect the user to a page that contains harmful programs.

Experts say keeping your electronics safe and virus free isn't just important to the owner - these days it's important to many employers as well.

According to mobile device security firm Zenprise, 67 percent of workers use at least one of their personal mobile devices for work purposes.

That can create a problem for companies if an employee's phone or tablet is lost or stolen because it can potentially expose sensitive company information or emails.

"We have an estimate that there are about 800,000 smartphones being left in the backseat of taxi cabs per year. It is a widespread phenomenon and it something that causes a lot of concern for enterprises," Amhed Datoo, the vice president of product management at Zenprise, revealed to 9NEWS. "People have personal information on that phone that they don't want getting out. Same goes for the enterprise side. They've got company related information that's highly sensitive that they don't want falling into the wrong hands."

Datoo says this time of year is of special concern because 20 million new mobile devices were activated over the holidays, and those devices may not have the same level of protection as previous devices. 

In order to protect those devices and any personal and possibly proprietary information on them, Datoo says users should first set a password which will provide an initial layer of protection. He adds that users should also find and download an app that will help locate the device if it is lost or stolen so it can be recovered as quickly as possible.

(KUSA-TV © 2012 Multimedia Holdings Corporation)