Twitter users face ‘high phishing risk’

Twitter users are putting themselves at risk of phishing because of the nature of personal information they reveal in their tweets, according to research by a security company.

Websense Security Labs said thousands of business and individuals are putting themselves at risk because they publicly reveal their email addresses on the social network.

The firm said cyber criminals can easily locate and exploit these details and target victims.

Websense monitored Twitter over a 24-hour period and found that more than 11,000 email addresses were shared worldwide on the site. In London, UK, more than 30 addresses were shared every hour.

The emails were connected to users’ inboxes, social media platforms and bank accounts – lucrative data for cyber criminals.

“Twitter users blindly think that email addresses are safe for public consumption. However, by publicly tweeting your email, you’re connecting it with your name, location and information on your social graph,” said Carl Leonard of Websense.

Recently, Kaspersky Lab warned that criminals were targeting Facebook, posing as members of the network’s security team in chat sessions in order to try and lure members into providing sensitive information.