Facebook, the biggest social network with 500 million users, provides an interface to hit an unsuspecting crowd with malware and viruses. These viruses aren’t very difficult to detect if you are cautious enough. These Facebook viruses appear on your wall in forms of a bizarre or eye-catching stories and videos and once the user has clicked/liked the link, it is already late.
How to avoid it?
1. Think before you Act. Viruses on Facebook are sneaky. The hackers and cybercriminals who want your information know that Facebook users will often click on an interesting post without a moment’s thought. If a post sounds a bit over-the-top like a headline out of a tabloid, this is your first warning sign.
2. Try to avoid Links and videos with Catchy words like “funniest ever,†“most hilarious video on Facebook,†or “you’ve got to see this.†Do some keyword research to see if the post in question comes up in a search engine with information about a current virus or trojan.
3. Check the poster of the Suspicious content. If you receive a message from someone you do not know, this is an obvious red flag. Facebook video viruses also tend to pop up in your news feed or on your wall from friends you haven’t talked to in a while. Unfortunately, it’s likely this friend has already fallen victim to the latest virus on Facebook. After clicking on the story themselves, the message was sent out to all of their friends as well.
4 Avoid messages that have been posted by multiple users as the virus spreads among your friends who were not so cautious. If a link with title such as “Sexiest video ever†shows up all over your feed from all kinds of people (perhaps friends you would not expect to make such a post), this is another warning sign. Similar direct messages are a likely variant of the notorious Facebook Koobface virus which has used this approach in the past.
5. Do not fall for the “typical†money-transfer schemes. Chat messages from friends needing funds will usually sound suspicious. Everything can’t be screened before posting, so money transfer scams and hoax applications still find their way on to Facebook. You should also avoid applications that claim to do a full “Error check†or fix security problems related to your profile.
6. Update your anti-virus software frequently. If you do accidentally click on a post before realizing it is a hoax, do not click on any further links or downloads. If it’s too late and you have already been infected, the Facebook virus removal process may be effortless if you have a good anti-virus program to catch the virus, trojan or other malware early on.
What’s Next?
These were few important tips to safeguard your facebook account but your job isn’t done yet. Once you have detected that the link/post on your facebook wall is Malicious you should Mark it as SPAM so that the facebook support will stop it from spreading further and infecting other users.
If you have ever fallen victim of any such Malicious Scheme, please share your experience with all the users in form of comments so that others don’t fall victim of it.
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I got this to share with you guyz
Facebook Phishing – To Access the Video, Please Login
Some of your friends might post a video like this on your wall:
Dont look at the photo
Oh cool, a hot video. Click. Here’s what happens after you click:
A new window will appear prompting you to enter your username and password. If you’re in a rush, you probably WON’T notice the URL above.
Well, that’s what happened with many Facebook users on May 29th. The name of this phishing attack is “Most Hilarious Video Ever.†If you were a victim of this attack, your account was compromised.
Do you want to run that Java Applet? It comes from a trusted source…NOT!
So you want to run some cool game or online app in your browser. Before you do that, the website is asking you to run a Java Applet:
If you’re like most casual surfers, you might say: “Why not?†and proceed by clicking on “Run.â€
BIG MISTAKE. See what happens after that:
es, several files are created in your Temp folder including one .exe file which is probably a dangerous virus. Java apps can do nasty things in your computer. That’s why browsers give you ‘danger’ windows like the one above.
Do not download .exe files from Facebook (apps)
The below screenshot is from a malicious Facebook application that asks you to ‘update your video software’ by installing a brand new FLV player:
Why would they REALLY ask you to download a FLV player? Is there a virus in it? In this case, no. The reason is money. Every time you download the software (FLV Direct Player), the owner of the Facebook app will get money for that. It’s called PPI (pay per install).
After a bit of research, I found they get $1.5 for each new installation. So if 1000 people download and install that FLV player, the owners of the Facebook app get $1500:
How to avoid it?
1. Think before you Act. Viruses on Facebook are sneaky. The hackers and cybercriminals who want your information know that Facebook users will often click on an interesting post without a moment’s thought. If a post sounds a bit over-the-top like a headline out of a tabloid, this is your first warning sign.
2. Try to avoid Links and videos with Catchy words like “funniest ever,†“most hilarious video on Facebook,†or “you’ve got to see this.†Do some keyword research to see if the post in question comes up in a search engine with information about a current virus or trojan.
3. Check the poster of the Suspicious content. If you receive a message from someone you do not know, this is an obvious red flag. Facebook video viruses also tend to pop up in your news feed or on your wall from friends you haven’t talked to in a while. Unfortunately, it’s likely this friend has already fallen victim to the latest virus on Facebook. After clicking on the story themselves, the message was sent out to all of their friends as well.
4 Avoid messages that have been posted by multiple users as the virus spreads among your friends who were not so cautious. If a link with title such as “Sexiest video ever†shows up all over your feed from all kinds of people (perhaps friends you would not expect to make such a post), this is another warning sign. Similar direct messages are a likely variant of the notorious Facebook Koobface virus which has used this approach in the past.
5. Do not fall for the “typical†money-transfer schemes. Chat messages from friends needing funds will usually sound suspicious. Everything can’t be screened before posting, so money transfer scams and hoax applications still find their way on to Facebook. You should also avoid applications that claim to do a full “Error check†or fix security problems related to your profile.
6. Update your anti-virus software frequently. If you do accidentally click on a post before realizing it is a hoax, do not click on any further links or downloads. If it’s too late and you have already been infected, the Facebook virus removal process may be effortless if you have a good anti-virus program to catch the virus, trojan or other malware early on.
What’s Next?
These were few important tips to safeguard your facebook account but your job isn’t done yet. Once you have detected that the link/post on your facebook wall is Malicious you should Mark it as SPAM so that the facebook support will stop it from spreading further and infecting other users.
If you have ever fallen victim of any such Malicious Scheme, please share your experience with all the users in form of comments so that others don’t fall victim of it.
**********************************************************
I got this to share with you guyz
Facebook Phishing – To Access the Video, Please Login
Some of your friends might post a video like this on your wall:
Dont look at the photo
Oh cool, a hot video. Click. Here’s what happens after you click:
A new window will appear prompting you to enter your username and password. If you’re in a rush, you probably WON’T notice the URL above.
Well, that’s what happened with many Facebook users on May 29th. The name of this phishing attack is “Most Hilarious Video Ever.†If you were a victim of this attack, your account was compromised.
Do you want to run that Java Applet? It comes from a trusted source…NOT!
So you want to run some cool game or online app in your browser. Before you do that, the website is asking you to run a Java Applet:
If you’re like most casual surfers, you might say: “Why not?†and proceed by clicking on “Run.â€
BIG MISTAKE. See what happens after that:
es, several files are created in your Temp folder including one .exe file which is probably a dangerous virus. Java apps can do nasty things in your computer. That’s why browsers give you ‘danger’ windows like the one above.
Do not download .exe files from Facebook (apps)
The below screenshot is from a malicious Facebook application that asks you to ‘update your video software’ by installing a brand new FLV player:
Why would they REALLY ask you to download a FLV player? Is there a virus in it? In this case, no. The reason is money. Every time you download the software (FLV Direct Player), the owner of the Facebook app will get money for that. It’s called PPI (pay per install).
After a bit of research, I found they get $1.5 for each new installation. So if 1000 people download and install that FLV player, the owners of the Facebook app get $1500:
