Computational Social Networks: Security and Privacy

The continuous self-growing nature of social networks makes it hard to define a line of safety around these networks. Users in social networks are not interacting with the Web only but also with trusted groups that may also contain enemies. There are different kinds of attacks on these networks including causing damage to the computer systems and stealing information about users. These attacks are not only affecting individuals but also the organizations they are belonging to. Protection from these attacks should be performed by the users and security experts of the network. Advices should be provided to users of these social networks. Also security experts should be sure that the contents transmitted through the network do not contain malicious or harmful data. This chapter presents an overview of the social networks security and privacy issues and illustrates the various security risks and the tasks applied to minimize those risks. In addition, this chapter explains some of the common strategies that attackers often use and some possible counter measures against such issues.