Privacy and Security Issues in Social Networking

Yet users still post tons of personal data on social networks without batting an eye. It's only natural. Anonymity and the fact that you're communicating with a machine instead of an actual person (or people in the case of social networking) makes sharing a lot easier. "People should just exercise common sense online, but the problem with common sense is that it's not very common. If you wouldn't invite these people into your house to see your cat, you certainly wouldn't let them see pictures from holiday," says Cluley.

In the end, the only tried and true solution to social network privacy and security issues is to limit your presence altogether. Don't post anything you wouldn't mind telling a complete stranger, because in reality that's the potential for access. Be careful who you add as a "friend," because there's simply no way of verifying a user's actual identity online. Cluley compares it to a rep from your company's IT department calling to ask for your login password -- "Most people will give it over" with no proof of the IT rep actually existing. The caller might be your IT rep, or she might not. "This kind of scam happens all the time," says Cluley. Friends on social networks should know that real friends should know personal information already, negating the need to post it online.

Will there ever be a security breach-free social network? Probably not. "Any complex system has vulnerabilities in it. It's just the nature of building something above a certain level of complexity," says Professor Evans. According to Felt, the best idea is a completely private social network. "It simply requires that there's no gossip in the circle, by which I mean one person who sets their privacy settings so low that third parties can use them to get to their friends."

"Social networks are great fun, and can be advantageous but people really need to understand that it's complicated world and you need to step wisely," Cluley says.