Threats of online social networks

In the recent years, we have witnessed a dramatic rise in popularity of online social networking services, with several Social Network Sites (SNSs) such as Myspace, Facebook, Blogger, You Tube, Yahoo! Groups etc are now among the most visited websites globally. However, since such forums are relatively easy to access and the users are often not aware of the size and the nature of the audience accessing their profiles, they often reveal more information which is not appropriate to a public forum. As a result, such commercial and social site may often generate a number of privacy and security related threats for the members. This paper highlights the commercial and social benefits of safe and well-informed use of SNSs and emphasizes the most important threats to users of SNSs as well as illustrates the fundamental factors behind these threats. It also presents policy and technical recommendations to improve privacy and security without compromising the benefits of information sharing through SNSs. Key words