BitDefender Safego finds nearly 25% of its users have had at least one friend spreading malicious content

SYDNEY & AUCKLAND – June 28, 2011 – Coinciding with the full launch of its Safego Facebook security application, BitDefender® has found that of 73,000 Safego Beta users worldwide, nearly 25 percent (24.6) have had at least one Facebook friend spread malicious content to others.

With public awareness about the threats present on social networks growing, BitDefender conducted a review that found nearly 25 percent of Safego users have had at least one friend who posted an infected item on Facebook, such as a suspicious application or a link to further potentially harmful content. The negative consequences of such items include targeted scam emails and potential identity theft.

In comparison, only 0.7 percent of Safego users have spread malicious content to their friends. When BitDefender Safego is installed onto your Facebook account, it completes a scan of all wall posts and applications that have been installed. If an infected object is detected, Safego will display a warning message with suggestions on how to proceed. If the ‘publish to wall’ feature is enabled, a warning message will be automatically posted on the infected friend’s Facebook wall to alert them of the malware.

Catalin Cosoi, head of online threats lab at BitDefender, commented: “These findings strongly suggest that more caution should be exercised when using social networks – for our own sake as well as our Facebook friends’. Assuming that friends won’t post malicious content is not enough, as in many cases they may be doing so without actually realising that the application posting on their behalf is of a malicious nature.”

“BitDefender Safego has been developed as a free and simple application that offers a very important layer of security for Facebook users. Since the Beta release in October 2010, Safego has helped to detect nearly 340,000 infected objects, keeping its users and their friends safe from social network security threats.”

The full version of BitDefender Safego for Facebook launches today and offers a range of key features, including:

– 24/7 scanning of newsfeeds for malicious content

– The ‘Friend’o’meter’ to help build a safe network of friends

– Integrated Quickscan, which relies on award-winning BitDefender antivirus technologies to check your PC for threats within 60 seconds

The Safego Facebook application can be accessed here: http://apps.facebook.com/bd-safego.

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