VeriSign warns of major social networking threat

VeriSign's iDefense managed security services arm has released new research warning of "exponential" growth in demand for black market data stolen from social networking sites, as criminals internationalise their campaigns.

As an indication of the growth in activity on these sites, iDefense has uncovered evidence of one particular black market forum user, known as 'kirllos', who claimed to be selling 1.5 million compromised accounts in bulk quantities.

Prices for the accounts depend on how many contacts or friends the user has on the site, and range from $25 (£16.25) per 1,000 accounts with 10 contacts or fewer to $45 (£29) for over 10 contacts, said iDefense.

"There are two things that make this discovery interesting: the volume of social network account credentials discovered, and the fact that we are seeing an eastern European hacker dip into western social networks," said Rik Howard, director of intelligence at iDefense.