In the last week, Facebook has been hit by the Koobface worm several times. This worm has begun to hit other social networking sites too.
According to Trend Micro:
A user receives a link from what appears to be a Facebook friend. Once they click the link, they are taken to a spoofed, and very legitimate-looking, YouTube page, complete with fake comments from "viewers."
The video in question appears to come from the "friend" that sent the user the link, along with his or her name and a pulled Facebook profile photo. In order to view the video, the user is prompted to install a version ofAdobe (NSDQ: ADBE) Flash Player, which is actually malicious code that unloads a variant of the Koobface worm once the user hits "install."
Once the malware is launched on a user's system, the malicious worm starts to search for browser cookies, which often store logger and password information. The malware then checks files and applications for sensitive information, sending all the lifted data to an offshore server controlled by the remote attackers. The user's profile is then spammed out to members of their friends list, which further propels the malware campaign.
It was only a matter of time before a worm or virus hit one of these social networking sites. I don't see this ending anytime soon. In fact, with each new technology advancement, we will always have people creating problems for the rest of us.
For more about this issue, read the article, Facebook Koobface Worm Targets Other Networking Sites.
Have you been affected by this worm?
If you like this blog post, then subscribe via email or RSS feed.
Comments