Facebook Has Worms (Viruses and Malware Too!!!)
Interesting posting by Michael Arrington on TechCrunch today about a new worm virus which is targeting Facebook members’ comment walls.
From the posting:
The worm spreads when a compromised user’s account is used to send message to others with a title such as “LOL. You’ve been catched on hidden cam, yo:” and a link to a random URL. The linked website is a YouTube-like page that shows a video player along with what looks like a standard browser message to update your Flash installation. Clicking on the button begins a malware installation of a file called “codecsetup.exe.” We didn’t go so far as to install the software, but our guess is that it zombies your computer, installs a keylogger, and other fun stuff.
CNET also has an article on this topic which gives some more detailed information.
From the article:
Sophos, a security software and research firm, has warned that social network Facebook is the battleground for a new malware attack targeting members’ comment “walls”. Sophos says that this is probably not the same as a social-network worm that Kaspersky Labs flagged last week.
It’s interesting how social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace are quickly emerging as a hotbed for malicious software, identity theft and online trouble makers. Actually, we should not be very surprised as millions of users visit these Web sites and they are the perfect targets for those who wish to do harm to your computer. The only advice that I can give is that if you use Facebook or MySpace, as I do, just be careful.
Tags: CNET, Facebook, identity theft, Kaspersky Labs, malicious software, Malware, Michael Arrington, MySpace, Sophos, TechCrunch, Virus, Worm
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