Reducing the risk of hackers

Companies interested in social media have been advised by one sector commentator to take steps to reduce the risk of hackers.

Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos, said that any firm that is running a website should be thinking about password security for their users.

This included considering how to enforce good passwords and preventing people from running automated dictionaries, he added.

Mr Cluley noted: "If you have five failed attempts to log into an account within 30 seconds then why not block that account from being accessed at all for the next 15 minutes?"

Doing this would make dictionary attacks "unfeasible", he stated.

Earlier in the month, Sophos warned users of Twitter, the social messaging utility, to be on their guard against an evolving attack which threatens to steal personal information from them.

This follows thousands of Twitter users reporting having received direct messages from friends inviting them to visit a website linked to a competition where they could win an Apple iPhone or messages that have falsely claimed to direct them to amusing pictures or blog articles about the recipient.

Contact the experts at home james for Social Media services.