After months as a consumer-only beta, Google finally opened up its Google+ social network to companies this week, launching Google Brand pages. While response to the new brand pages was tepid (Robert Scoble penned a rather scathing review), it didn’t take long for folks poking around the new feature to identify a serious shortcoming: Google brand pages allow pretty much anyone to stake out a page for any brand, regardless of their affiliation with it.

The “up side” of social networks like Facebook, Twitter and G+ are well known. But the down side of these networks for both users and for organizations that employ them are only now becoming clear. Worms, malware and spam are just the beginning of the security problems engendered by the social net. In this exclusive interview, conducted via e-mail, Threatpost editor Paul Roberts asked Joe Gottlieb, the CEO of security event management firm Sensage, about the many, subtle ways that social networks are eroding organizations’ online defenses.

History has taught us that monopolies are bad for consumers. It was true in the first decades of the 20th century with Standard Oil, and in the final decade of the same century with Microsoft. Its been true, in recent years, with social networking behemoth, Facebook, also. But now, with Google’s Plus network showing signs of being a legitimate Facebook competitor, Mr.

Call it the Real Name Rapture: the mass disappearance of untold numbers of Google+ users over the weekend for what many outlets reported were violations of Google’s community standards policy.

Google’s new social network is growing fast, with more than 10 million users in its first week of operation. That’s not too bad for an invite-only Closed Beta release! The new social network is also a hit with users, unlike previous efforts like Orkut and Buzz.