As Facebook celebrates its 6th birthday on 4th February, Irish information security company Espion urges people to be aware of the security risks associated with all social networking sites. Facebook has become part of daily life for 350 millions users. If Facebook was a country (based on users being citizens), it would be the fourth largest country in the world. The rate of adoption has been staggering - within 9 months of launching, Facebook had 100 million active accounts. There are numerous other sites that can boast equally impressive numbers including MySpace, Bebo and professional networking sites such as LinkedIn which has over 55 million users in 200 countries. "Social networking sites have given millions of users a forum to simplify communication with their peers - either personally or professionally - regardless of their physical location," comments Colm Murphy, Technical Director with Espion. "Given the user base and the volume and nature of the content published, individuals and organisations need to be aware of the possible risks associated with these sites. By understanding how these sites function, how they might be targeted by cyber criminals and applying common sense, users should be able to enjoy these sites without compromising their systems or their information"