Shropshire businesses must protect themselves from the onslaught of social networking sites to avoid becoming an easy target for cyber criminals.

Sites like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube have become incredibly popular with people of all ages, as a way of keeping in touch.

But Dave Williams, of Henshalls Insurance Brokers, in Newport and Shrewsbury, said companies using the social media tools to raise their corporate profile should take care.

"The benefits of using social media to reach customers are clear - you can get your message across to hundreds of people with just one short communication. But this kind of marketing also brings its own risks, and you must be aware of some of the new threats from criminals who are trawling these sites for potential victims.

"You could leave your firm vulnerable to data theft, downtime, financial losses and a damaged reputation."

Dave said one of the biggest risks came from unwittingly downloading viruses, spyware and malware, as these hidden codes could damage your computer, its network, and extract confidential information.

"If your system is hacked or damaged by viruses, a cyber liability insurance policy could help to get your business back on its feet and compensate any customers that have been affected.

"You can also get insurance cover for compensation for multimedia claims, damage to third parties through libel or slander, copyright infringement, and invasion of privacy."

Dave said some companies may be tempted to turn off social media altogether, but developing a social media policy would go a long way to help mitigate the risks.

"It's not just your company's presence on these sites that puts you at risk, many of your employees will have personal online profiles which could lead to problems. So make it clear to your employees how you expect them to use social media and remind them their online behaviour may reflect on your organisation."

Dave said social media was also often used to rant about poor service, so companies should be vigilant and monitor websites to ensure they were able to respond to negative comments as quickly and positively as possible.