A modus operandi for social networking security solutions based on varied usages

Abstract

The popularity of social networking sites is increasing beyond belief. There is no disagreement about the effectiveness of sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. These sites can be used for professional networking and job searches, as a tool to keep the public informed about the safety and other issues, as a means to increase sales revenue or as a way to reconnect with friends. There is a rapid increase in the number of social media users. However, with the increase in number of users there is also an increase in the security threats affecting the users’ privacy, personal data, identity and confidentiality. In this paper we have aimed at categorising security and privacy threats based on the kind of usage of social media. We have also presented an algorithm to find the appropriate solution to address the security and privacy related issues as per the usage category. This paper helps in improving security and privacy of SNS (Social Networking Sites) users without compromising the benefits of sharing information through SNSs.