Spam warning for Google Buzz users

Spammers took just two days to target Google Buzz users

Security experts are warning that Google's new Buzz social networking platform is already being exploited by spammers.

Websense said in a security alert that the spammer in question is following over 200 people on Buzz, sending them messages which link to a site hosted on a free web hosting service talking about how to quit smoking.

"When Twitter was launched, it took a while before it was used to send spam and other malicious messages. In this case, it only took two days," said Websense.

"It's clear that the bad guys have learned from their experience using social networks to distribute these type of messages.

"We hope that Google is geared up for dealing with the volume of spam it's bound to see on the new service. Until then, we advise users to be careful, as usual, when clicking on unknown links."

Buzz has come in for a fair amount of criticism since it was launched earlier this week. Google was forced to respond yesterday to widespread user unrest about the privacy aspects of the service, most notably concerns that users' contacts lists were being made public, and that they had too little control over who could follow them.