New Facebook worm threat!!

Security experts are warning users of Facebook, MySpace and other social networking communities to be on guard against a new strain of the "Koobface" worm, which spreads by tricking users into responding to a message apparently sent from one of their friends.

The latest version of Koobface arrives as an invitation from a user's friend or contact, inviting the recipient to click on a link and view a video at a counterfeit YouTube site. Visitors are told they need need to install an Adobe Flash plug-in to view the video.

The bogus plug-in instead installs a Trojan horse program that gives Koobface author(s) control over the infected user's computer, according to security firm Trend Micro, which documented the new strain on its blog.

In addition, the worm also hijacks the victim's social networking account, by sending out additional invites in order to spread the worm to the victim's friends and contacts. The worm currently is spreading across multiple networks, including hi5.com, friendster.com, myyearbook.com, bebo.com and livejournal.com.

Trend also reports at least two different bogus Facebook apps being used to harvest users' personal data. Last week, a rogue Facebook app called "The Error Check System" quickly spread among Facebook users, arriving in a notification that told users that one of their friends "has faced some errors when checking your profile." Hours later, Trend spotted another rogue Facebook app, which urged recipients to click a link to find out why they had supposedly been reported to Facebook for violating the site's terms of service.

It's important to note that practicing basic online street smarts can save you from falling for these types of attacks, regardless of the medium. As always, be extremely cautious about clicking on links in unsolicited messages, even if they appear to have been sent by a friend or acquaintance. Also, don't install applications or programs if you didn't go looking for them. Before you install anything, take a few minutes to research the program and its vendor first. If you decide to install the application, make sure to download it directly from the vendor's Web site, if possible.

Understanding the Facebook Terms of Service

Facebook friends could be hackers or scam artists!!

Social networking Web sites are a great way to find old classmates, stay connected with friends, or even make new friends. Unfortunately though, hackers have learned how to use Web sites like Facebook in order to disseminate viruses or steal identities. The Better Business Bureau offers advice on how consumers can protect themselves against hackers, scammers and ID thieves on social networking sites.
The popularity of social networking Web sites has grown immensely in the past few years. According to the blog Inside Facebook, as of December, Facebook was growing at a rate of 500,000 new users a day and is approaching 150 million active users. Facebook estimates that, in total, users spend more than 2.6 billion minutes on the Web site every day worldwide. As a result of the increase in popularity, scammers are seeing an opportunity to step in and ply their trade.


Social networking is extremely popular because it allows us to connect and reconnect with people we know and trust. Scammers know that they can take advantage of that trust by masquerading as friends, families, and coworkers in order to easily disseminate viruses or steal personal information such as bank or credit card numbers.


Some common social networking schemes include the following:


Friend in distress scam
One scam that has made the transition from phone and e-mail into Facebook is the "friend in distress" scam. Facebook users may receive a message in their Inbox from a friend saying that they are in a dire situation -- such as stranded in a foreign country -- and need money wired to them.
The recipient of the message doesn't realize that their friend's account has been hacked and that the message was actually sent by scammers. If the Facebook user does wire money to the scammers, they have no way of recovering the money after they learn that their friend is actually safe and sound.


Phishing friends
One particularly virulent computer virus, called Koobface, has made the social networking site rounds via MySpace and most recently on Facebook in December.
In Facebook, the victim receives a message from their friend saying "You look awesome in this video" or "You look funny in this video" and includes a link to an outside Web site to view the video. Clicking the link will open a window that Flash needs to be updated. Agreeing to the update actually installs the virus onto the victim's computer. The virus is designed to monitor the user's Internet activity and potentially steal personal information. Victims of Koobface have had a particularly difficult time removing the virus and in some cases just decided to scrap their computers.


Viral wall post
Another recent Facebook scam takes advantage of a social networker's fears that the pictures and information they post on Facebook could be made very public. The user receives a post on his wall from a friend saying something like, "hey do u realize your face book picture is all over ".
The wall posts vary, but all invariably link to an outside Web site that supposedly has the user's photos. Facebook warns that clicking on the link will allow hackers to gain access to the user's personal account and post the same message -- seemingly coming from the victim -- on their friend's walls.
BBB offers the following advice for staying safe on social networking sites:
- Be extremely wary of messages from friends or strangers that direct the user to another Web site via a hyperlink.
- Before wiring money to a friend in a jam, users should attempt to contact their friend outside of the social networking site, such as over the phone or via e-mail for confirmation. If that's not possible, BBB recommends asking them a question that only the friend could answer.
- Users should always make sure their computer's operating system and antivirus and firewall software are up to date.
- Social networking sites are about sharing information, but BBB recommends that users take steps to keep important information private. While some social networking Web sites do allow for the user to share phone numbers and addresses, it's best to keep such information private.
- Be selective when choosing friends. While a user might not want to be rude, BBB recommends that it's best to decline a request for friendship if the user doesn't actually know the person

Source:http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2009/01/26/yrb_508896.shtml