Information Attacks and Defenses on the Social Web

Information Attacks and Defenses on the Social Web

Agostino Poggi (University of Parma, Italy) and Michele Tomaiuolo (University of Parma, Italy)
Copyright: © 2018 |Pages: 20
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-4944-4.ch012

Abstract

Social web sites are used daily by many millions of users. They have attracted users with very weak interest in technology, including absolute neophytes of computers in general. Common users of social web sites often have a carefree attitude in sharing information. Moreover, some system operators offer sub-par security measures, which are not adequate for the high value of the published information. For all these reasons, online social networks suffer more and more attacks by sophisticated crackers and scammers. To make things worse, the information gathered from social web sites can trigger attacks to even more sensible targets. This work reviews some typical social attacks that are conducted on social networking systems, describing real-world examples of such violations and analyzing in particular the weakness of password mechanisms. It then presents some solutions that could improve the overall security of the systems.
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Security Threats Associated With Social Media

Nowadays, online social networks involve people from the entire world, of any age and with any kind of education. They also helped to increase computer usage among categories that previously showed little interest for it (Angiani et al., 2016; Franchi, Poggi & Tomaiuolo, 2016; Stroud, 2008). The users of information systems have various types of security requirements, including confidentiality, integrity, accountability, availability and anonymity. The same security requirements can be applied to social networking platforms, as well.

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