A web security firm say your social media profile could be more valuable to than your credit card to cyber thieves in 2012.
Websense released their predictions for online crime in 2012, and also listed the Mayan calendar's apocalypse prediction, your mobile device and rogue anti-virus warnings as the main areas to beware of in the new year.
Chris Astacio from Websense security labs said: "Social engineering and rogue anti-irus will continue to rein. Rogue anti-virus will probably change its face a bit, meaning that it wil show up as a tool that will de-frag your computer or make your internet run faster."
Astacio also expects that searching for major news events, like the London Olympics or Mayan apocalypse, will be risky in 2012. He says that cybercriminals will create legitimate-looking news services, Twitter feeds, Facebook posts/emails, LinkedIn updates.
"Your social networking identity could be the more valuable than your credit cards. 2012 will be the beginning of cybercriminals stealing your social media details and selling those on underground forums."
Social media scams this year included a Facebook scam aiming to profit from the Norway shootings, Amy Winehouse's death and images of Gaddafi's death.
James Lyne, senior technologist at Sophos, another online security firm, said: “In 2012, we’ll continue to see an increasing number of different devices and technologies become commonplace, both for work and personal use. This means that malware targeted towards these diverse devices will also become more commonplace."
He predicted that we’ll see an increase in attacks on individuals targeted at:
· mobile, particularly Android and NFC
· social media platforms
· Mac malware if users ignore security due to complacency
Google recently launched a campaign to encourage UK users to create robust passwords for their Google accounts.
Internet users should consider every link they open, and secure all social media accounts with secure passwords.