Professional social networking site LinkedIn has proven to be a valuable business tool, bringing together professionals from all over the world.
But few corporations grasp the security risk injudicious use of LinkedIn represents. The main problem is not with the LinkedIn website’s own digital security but with a widespread corporate ignorance of the way the organized criminal gangs (OCGs) who make billions, sometimes tens of billions, of dollars from cyber crime.
The hackers are now using well-known brands names such as Standard Chartered Bank on LinkedIn to attract senior executives to divulge information that they can use. It’s all very plausible unless you know what to look for.
Using a process called ‘social engineering’, OCGs assemble as much information via the Internet as they can on a target subject within an organization that has been identified as likely prey. LinkedIn is proving a rich vein for OCGs. Executives have become too cavalier about posting details of their movements and personal information on LinkedIn.
