A new warning has been issued to think twice before using a credit card to shop online or when reaching for a smartphone to upload a picture to Facebook. According to the most recent Symantec Internet Security Threat Report, both activities are increasingly prone to online attacks. Macau is also under threat.

According to Symantec, a global anti-virus software provider, the volume and sophistication of malicious activity increased substantially last year. The company recorded more than 3 billion malware attacks last year, involving more than 286 million variants of malware.

Macau-based organisations and individuals are also increasingly targeted, according to recent local studies. The 2010 Information Security Survey Report, conducted last year by the Manetic iCentre, says 88 percent of organisations surveyed had suffered from a virus infection or malicious software in the preceding 12 months. The survey analysed internet security in the public and private sectors in Macau, including the gaming industry.

Angus Cheong Weng Hin, an internet researcher at the University of Macau, says awareness is high, with reported rates of anti-virus software usage close to 90 percent, according to 2008 data. Mr Cheong stresses that the most important defence is prevention.

In Hong Kong, the Computer Emergency Response Team Co-ordination Centre noted an increase in published security alerts to a record 308 last year from 220 in 2009. The centre had 1,153 incidents reported to it last year, most involving hacking.

An increasing threat, according to the Symantec report, is cyber attacks directed at social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. The sites are more likely to attract private or sensitive information posted by users – a prime target for hackers.

Think twice, click once
Surveys or quizzes can be useful information-gathering tools but they may also include questions that are often used as password reminders. It creates a malware target, if it isn’t already designed to be malware.

Social media sites accessed from the workplace may also allow attackers to penetrate an organisation’s internal network. Although social networking sites are an important marketing tool for many businesses, they also pose a security threat, Symantec warns.

Links that redirect the user to a website carrying malware are common on social networking sites. Attackers are increasingly using shortened URLs that obscure the real destination from the user.

Even smartphones are increasingly vulnerable. Symantec’s database recorded a sharp rise in the number of reported weaknesses in new mobile operating systems, to 163 last year from 115 in 2009.

Usually, cyber attacks against smartphones come in the form of third-party applications. Some are specially designed to target people using their phones for online banking.

The number of cyber attacks on social networking sites and smartphones in Macau has yet to be tallied, Mr Cheong says.

By Sara Silva Moreira