Two in Five Social Networkers Have Been Sent Malware

Does this alarm you? It should. Malware can take over your browser, redirect your searches, deliver frustrating pop-up ads, and slow down the performance of your PC. These effects are not only annoying, they are costly to remove. Think upwards of $50 per effected PC and even more for malware removal on a server. 

Approximately half of US employees can use social networks from their work machine without any restrictions. Total bans on access to social networking sites is becoming rare as firms recognize the value such sites can bring in raising brand awareness and promoting social media marketing campaigns.

"Over the year, we saw an average of 30,000 new malicious URLs every day - that's one every two to three seconds. More than 70 percent of these are legitimate websites that have been hacked - this means that businesses and website owners could inadvertently be infecting their patrons unintentionally and without their knowledge." 

- Graham Cluley, Senior Technology Consultant, Sophos

So what’s a solution that will allow you to continue realizing the benefits of social media while protecting your organization from malware? Can your current anti-malware solution keep up with the 30,000 new malicious URLs per day? A data loss prevention solution with real-time security scanning is ideal. This technology detects threats and analyzes user-generated content in real-time as it is posted to blogs and Facebook pages, to protect visitors from being exposed to malicious links and spam. Real-time scanning can allow you to continue reaping the benefits of using social networks while preventing nasty malware from slowing you down.