Social networking sites like Facebook not only present entire new world of chances, but also open dangers, as said by executives at Computerworld Security Forum in Malaysia. With 400 million users, Facebook is well-liked social applications in world. These tools are made to permit people to share and meet online, as said by Joe Lim, country lead, e-Cop.

But above half billion people on different social networks created accessible huge amount of personal information on them. It is likely for third parties to get these private data, by applications installed on social network sites like games and social interaction tools. E.g. "Facebook alone has over 55,000 external applications," said Lim.

Sophos Security Threat Report 2010 recognized that 57 per cent of social networking users report being hit by spam raise of 70.6 per cent compared to year ago, as said by Che Mun Foong, channel manager, Malaysia, Sophos. Meanwhile, study said that 30 per cent encountered phishing attacks, jump of 42.9 per cent from year before.
Answering question from meeting attendee on whether Facebook must be banned from office surroundings, Alex Ng, product manager, Southeast Asia, Kaspersky Lab, said stopping Facebook in workplace "means efficiently testing users to do something else" to access tool. "When there are credit scam cases, does it mean we must ban bank or stop using card?" added e-Cop's Lim.

To minimize risks of losing data when using social networking sites, Kaspersky Lab's Ng recommended Facebook, create bookmark for log-in page, or type URL directly into browser address bar, avoid tick on links in e-mail messages, and type in secret data on safe websites. Alertness of new malware and phishing attacks also avoid users from falling into same traps, said e-Cop's Lim.