Social networking sites need more regulation in order to ensure that they won’t pose major security risks to users, according to the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA). The agency issued a preliminary version of its General Report (PDF) covering online security this morning, pointing out that it views social networks as a “positive social phenomenon” that are not without their own set of security problems, and the organization has a set of recommendations meant to protect users online. ENISA said that some of the main threats identified so far through social networks involve digital dossiers, face recognition, and social engineering attacks on enterprises. Phishing attacks, reputation damage, ID theft, stalking, and cyberbullying are common as well. The organization says that, because of the human desire to connect and the growing popularity of social networks, it’s easy for users to let their guards down and not be aware of the size of the audience accessing their information. “Social Networking may be seen as a ‘digital cocktail party,’” read the report. “However, compared with a real-world cocktail party, [social networking service] members broadcast information much more widely and sometimes unadvisedly, either by choice or unwittingly.”
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