Keeping Ahead of 25,000 Facebook Viruses and Scams
"hankroth" <[email protected]> Thu, 21 Oct 2010 19:12:51 -0000
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Keeping Ahead of 25,000 Facebook Viruses and Scams
sujata on January 13th, 2010
Tags: malware, scams, spyware, virus
Let us put a number on the level of threat that social networkers face
from
viruses and other nasties; Kaspersky Lab, the maker of antivirus
software,
estimates that there are about 25,000 distinct examples of malware
abroad
specifically aimed at the social networks. Let us look at some of the
most
popular schemes, to be warned.
Facebook apps or widgets are popular vehicles for malware these days,
ever
since Secret Crush terrorized Facebook members last year. That piece of
software was supposed to help you find who your virtual fans were on the
network; it instead put spyware on your computer. The lesson to learn
here is,
widgets or third-party apps are best installed after you look them up on
the
Internet for complaints from victims.
The Koobface virus (a play on Facebook) has been the worst recent
attack. The
virus attacks the computer of a person who has a Facebook membership,
finds
their Facebook friends and sends them a message on Facebook suggesting
an
interesting video about some Facebook friend. When they click on it,
they
download a virus. Antivirus software helps against Koobface; but a
better
strategy is to never download a plug-in from a pop-up. Take down the
name of
the plug-in and go directly to the source.
Nigerian scams are so old now that its a wonder anyone still gets taken
in; but
they do. The Facebook Nigerian scam goes like this. Someone gains entry
into
your Facebook account without your knowledge, takes down the names of
your
friends on Facebook and sends them a desperate Facebook plea for
emergency
funds for something urgent. The names of the friends found on your
Facebook
contacts list are liberally used to make the plea sound believable. The
friends
think that its you who is asking for money, and send it to the address
asked
for; usually it is to the criminal running the scam. To keep from
falling for a
scam like this, you could just phone the allegedly troubled friend to
make
sure. In the end, staying safe on Facebook is no different from staying
safe in
real life; you need your wits about you.
http://blogs.agriya.com/keeping-ahead-of-25000-facebook-viruses-and-scam\
s
<http://blogs.agriya.com/keeping-ahead-of-25000-facebook-viruses-and-sca\
ms>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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<p> Keeping Ahead of 25,000 Facebook Viruses and Scams<br>
sujata on January 13th, 2010<br>
<br>
Tags: malware, scams, spyware, virus<br>
<br>
Let us put a number on the level of threat that social networkers face<br>
from<br>
viruses and other nasties; Kaspersky Lab, the maker of antivirus<br>
software,<br>
estimates that there are about 25,000 distinct examples of malware<br>
abroad<br>
specifically aimed at the social networks. Let us look at some of the<br>
most<br>
popular schemes, to be warned.<br>
<br>
Facebook apps or widgets are popular vehicles for malware these days,<br>
ever<br>
since Secret Crush terrorized Facebook members last year. That piece of<br>
software was supposed to help you find who your virtual fans were on the<br>
network; it instead put spyware on your computer. The lesson to learn<br>
here is,<br>
widgets or third-party apps are best installed after you look them up on<br>
the<br>
Internet for complaints from victims.<br>
<br>
The Koobface virus (a play on Facebook) has been the worst recent<br>
attack. The<br>
virus attacks the computer of a person who has a Facebook membership,<br>
finds<br>
their Facebook friends and sends them a message on Facebook suggesting<br>
an<br>
interesting video about some Facebook friend. When they click on it,<br>
they<br>
download a virus. Antivirus software helps against Koobface; but a<br>
better<br>
strategy is to never download a plug-in from a pop-up. Take down the<br>
name of<br>
the plug-in and go directly to the source.<br>
<br>
Nigerian scams are so old now that its a wonder anyone still gets taken<br>
in; but<br>
they do. The Facebook Nigerian scam goes like this. Someone gains entry<br>
into<br>
your Facebook account without your knowledge, takes down the names of<br>
your<br>
friends on Facebook and sends them a desperate Facebook plea for<br>
emergency<br>
funds for something urgent. The names of the friends found on your<br>
Facebook<br>
contacts list are liberally used to make the plea sound believable. The<br>
friends<br>
think that its you who is asking for money, and send it to the address<br>
asked<br>
for; usually it is to the criminal running the scam. To keep from<br>
falling for a<br>
scam like this, you could just phone the allegedly troubled friend to<br>
make<br>
sure. In the end, staying safe on Facebook is no different from staying<br>
safe in<br>
real life; you need your wits about you.<br>
<br>
<a href="http://blogs.agriya.com/keeping-ahead-of-25000-facebook-viruses-and-scams">http://blogs.agriya.com/keeping-ahead-of-25000-facebook-viruses-and-scam\<br>
s</a><br>
<<a href="http://blogs.agriya.com/keeping-ahead-of-25000-facebook-viruses-and-scams">http://blogs.agriya.com/keeping-ahead-of-25000-facebook-viruses-and-sca\<br>
ms</a>><br>
<br>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]<br>
<br>
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#ygrp-sponsor #ov li a {
font-size: 130%;
text-decoration: none;
}
#ygrp-sponsor #ov li {
font-size: 77%;
list-style-type: square;
padding: 6px 0;
}
#ygrp-sponsor #ov ul {
margin: 0;
padding: 0 0 0 8px;
}
#ygrp-text {
font-family: Georgia;
}
#ygrp-text p {
margin: 0 0 1em 0;
}
#ygrp-text tt {
font-size: 120%;
}
#ygrp-vital ul li:last-child {
border-right: none !important;
}
-->
</style>
</head>
<!--~-|**|PrettyHtmlEnd|**|-~-->
</html>
<!-- end group email -->
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