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Spammers Target Facebook, Twitter Again
Techtree News Staff, Jun 23, 2010 1630 hrs ISTAdult-themed strings being used to lure users into opening infected attachment
With the number of people joining social networking websites growing by leaps and bounds, problems associated with it are increasing too. It is because of this ever-growing popularity that social networks have been a target of cybercriminals to proliferate their malicious schemes.
Trend Labs Researchers have received samples of another Facebook spam, this time also taking advantage of the popular micro-blogging site, Twitter.
The spam mail, which poses as a Facebook notification message, uses adult-themed strings to lure users into opening an attachment. The .ZIP file attachment, Twitter.zip, contains the file twitter.html, which has an embedded malicious script that Trend Micro detects as JS_REDIR.AE. According to the latest findings by Nielsen, social networking and blogging account for one in every four-and-a-half minute that people spend online. With Facebook still remaining one of the world's most popular social media sites and Twitter not far behind, cybercriminals will most likely use these sites more and more to propagate malicious codes.
Koobface is a classic example of a worm that spreads via social networking sites such as Facebook, Bebo, and Friendster. Koobface has been particularly problematic for Facebook users, and maintains a rather consistent presence among Facebook social network users. Facebook, which has over 300 million users, was the original target of the KOOBFACE botnet. Following are four easy-to-follow tips that can help you avoid infection by Koobface and other social networking worms.
To avoid falling prey to such spam, Trend Labs suggests that you stay away from promiscuous friending and log out of the social networking site when it's not being used. Worms like Koobface can only spread when you are logged on to Facebook or other social networking account. Staying logged off when not in use can help minimize the risk.
Other things that can help are setting up a unique strong password on each account and not clicking on links in messages received unexpectedly. Never login to any site as a result of clicking a link in a message. If you do follow a link that instructs you to login afterwards, close the page, then open a new page and visit the site using a previously bookmarked or known good link. Also, install reliable anti-virus software on your PC.
Trend Labs Researchers have received samples of another Facebook spam, this time also taking advantage of the popular micro-blogging site, Twitter.
The spam mail, which poses as a Facebook notification message, uses adult-themed strings to lure users into opening an attachment. The .ZIP file attachment, Twitter.zip, contains the file twitter.html, which has an embedded malicious script that Trend Micro detects as JS_REDIR.AE. According to the latest findings by Nielsen, social networking and blogging account for one in every four-and-a-half minute that people spend online. With Facebook still remaining one of the world's most popular social media sites and Twitter not far behind, cybercriminals will most likely use these sites more and more to propagate malicious codes.
Koobface is a classic example of a worm that spreads via social networking sites such as Facebook, Bebo, and Friendster. Koobface has been particularly problematic for Facebook users, and maintains a rather consistent presence among Facebook social network users. Facebook, which has over 300 million users, was the original target of the KOOBFACE botnet. Following are four easy-to-follow tips that can help you avoid infection by Koobface and other social networking worms.
To avoid falling prey to such spam, Trend Labs suggests that you stay away from promiscuous friending and log out of the social networking site when it's not being used. Worms like Koobface can only spread when you are logged on to Facebook or other social networking account. Staying logged off when not in use can help minimize the risk.
Other things that can help are setting up a unique strong password on each account and not clicking on links in messages received unexpectedly. Never login to any site as a result of clicking a link in a message. If you do follow a link that instructs you to login afterwards, close the page, then open a new page and visit the site using a previously bookmarked or known good link. Also, install reliable anti-virus software on your PC.
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