The Latest in IT Security

Pinning Down Pinterest

05
May
2012

 

There has been a lot of talk lately about Pinterest, the “virtual pinboard” that allows you to “organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web.”

Pinterest uses online social networking to extend the ways you can share your images. Its mission statement reads:  “Our goal is to connect everyone in the world through the ‘things’ they find interesting. We think that a favorite book, toy, or recipe can reveal a common link between two people. With millions of new pins added every week, Pinterest is connecting people all over the world based on shared tastes and interests.”

How does it work?

Currently, the site is available by invitation only, but it’s quite easy to request an invitation either directly from the site or from a friend who’s already using it. Once you’re in, you create “pins”: images you want to post, including videos, along with any text captions you care to add. The “Pin It” button can be added to Firefox or your iPhone, allowing you to grab images anytime and anywhere.  It also adds a link to the source, automatically crediting the author and, presumably, avoiding copyright issues, which have sparked a lot of discussion.*

A collection of pins is called a “board,” which usually focuses on a theme or interest. By displaying images in a thematic board, Pinterest creates a visual collage which provides context and relationships for images in ways other social media sites do not.


It is precisely the social media elements that seem to be fueling Pinterest’s popularity.  Users can search pins, boards, or people. They can “like” other people’s pins, post comments, repin the images to their own boards, and even share them via Facebook and Twitter links, or via embedding in a blog or email. They can follow other users, see activity streams, and click through to the source of an image for more information, or to make a purchase. Collaboration with Flickr was just announced, which enables sharing in the user’s Flickr account.

 Who uses it?

The number of unique visitors per month to Pinterest has jumped in just under one year from less than half a million to well over 18 million. Most (68.6%) are in the US, but all parts of the world are represented-and growing. Users tend to spend quite a bit of time on the site: more than 15 minutes per day, which is over 50% more than Twitter.



This explosion has created a huge buzz around the site, and at Websense we’ve learned that sites which attract lots of users also tend to attract lots of security concerns.

What could possibly go wrong?

Any site that attracts a lot of users and attention inevitably becomes a target for hackers and spammers. Spam and other types of objectionable content can be reported to Pinterest with the click of a button, which suggests the site relies on its users to spot problems and flag them for review. Malicious image files-where embedded malware is hidden in an image file-can be a particular threat on an image-based platform.

A while back we wrote a blog about inexpensive application toolkits on Facebook. This time around, it’s Pinterest’s turn.

Here are a few examples of  spamming toolkits that automatically generate massive amounts of traffic on a spammer’s Pinterest account.  Tools may be purchased individually or in packages, and prices range from about $25 to almost $2000 depending on the number and functionality desired.

One tool creates automatic “likes” for pins, and sends an email to the pin creator saying you liked it, along with a link to your profile.


Another tool finds the most popular pins and re-submits them into the same board name and category on the spammer’s account.

Websense researchers found many similar tools for sale, all of which generate unnatural traffic to the spammer’s account in order to increase the popularity of a site or brand.  Of course, Pinterest may notice or be informed of the unusual traffic and block the account. A bigger risk is that spamming tools may actually contain viruses, malware, or other threats, making the would-be hacker into a hacking target. 

Pinterest was recently the target of injected JavaScript code (possibly created by such spamming tools) that changed many pins into ads. A recent Pinterest blog post about spam on the platform generated a fair number of user responses about fake followers and spam (comments are now closed). And the site is reportedly using CAPTCHA, at least on some accounts, to ensure that users are human beings.

Regardless of how Pinterest evolves, you can be sure that Websense will stay on top of any security risks, helping you use social media safely.



Because pinning something actually creates a copy (as opposed to simply “liking” a pin), there has been a great deal of controversy and confusion around Pinterest and copyright.  The personal blog of a copyright librarian provides some useful discussion.

Leave a reply


Categories

FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 2024
WHITE PAPERS

Mission-Critical Broadband – Why Governments Should Partner with Commercial Operators:
Many governments embrace mobile network operator (MNO) networks as ...

ARA at Scale: How to Choose a Solution That Grows With Your Needs:
Application release automation (ARA) tools enable best practices in...

The Multi-Model Database:
Part of the “new normal” where data and cloud applications are ...

Featured

Archives

Latest Comments