Facebook virus

[Malcy]

If you access Facebook through Windows, beware......

Facebook virus news report = http://news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/technology/newsid_7773000/7773340.stm

It's a hostile World out there on the Internet for Windows users. I read posts on other forums from Windows users who when asked about what AV to use, say 'I don't use an AV because I am careful about where I surf'.

This just goes to show that even seemingly safe sites can carry hidden dangers and safe surfing in Windows is not really possible any more.

[Kernel Sanders]

Vista users can rely on the safety of UAC and Firefox! :KS

[fiddler616]

Vista users can rely on the safety of UACOh, I'm sure that'll solve everything...
FirefoxThe problem with Firefox is the people who use Firefox are the smart ones who have a well-protected system anyway, and the people who are ignorant or arrogant about their security don't use Firefox...

[JDorfler]

Oh, I'm sure that'll solve everything...
The problem with Firefox is the people who use Firefox are the smart ones who have a well-protected system anyway, and the people who are ignorant or arrogant about their security don't use Firefox...

Not true. My mother knows nothing about computers, but she uses Firefox b/c I told her it was better. My father on the other hand still doesn't know the difference between the two and always asks where his bookmarks are when in IE. (Installed Foxmarks on both their profiles on all the computers in the house.) Of course my mother yells at him for using IE and use Firefox. It's funny, but I'm glad I have no files on either of their computers.

[I wanted to leave]

If you access Facebook through Windows, beware......

Facebook virus news report = http://news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/technology/newsid_7773000/7773340.stm

It's a hostile World out there on the Internet for Windows users. I read posts on other forums from Windows users who when asked about what AV to use, say 'I don't use an AV because I am careful about where I surf'.

This just goes to show that even seemingly safe sites can carry hidden dangers and safe surfing in Windows is not really possible any more.

Aren't these the perfect sites for Ubuntu/Linux to advertise their offerings :popcorn:

[fiddler616]

Not true. My mother knows nothing about computers, but she uses Firefox b/c I told her it was better. My father on the other hand still doesn't know the difference between the two and always asks where his bookmarks are when in IE. (Installed Foxmarks on both their profiles on all the computers in the house.) Of course my mother yells at him for using IE and use Firefox. It's funny, but I'm glad I have no files on either of their computers.
They don't count--they're the parents of a geek :) (Although it was news that my mom upgraded from IE6 to IE7 today. Why? It happened while fixing a virus she had picked up. I've been evangelizing Firefox for years, but it's new--so it must be evil in her opinion.)

[Fzang]

Vista users can rely on the safety of UAC and Firefox! :KS

Firefox, yes. UAC, no

[handy]

Facebook is malware that collects huge amounts of personal information from its users to add to the database.

[fiddler616]

Facebook is malware that collects huge amounts of personal information from its users to add to the database.
[citation needed]

[LinuxGuy1234]

Facebook isn't a virus. Instead Koobface is spreading on Facebook. Be careful what you do!

[bashveank]

Vista users can rely on the safety of UAC and Firefox! :KS

Nobody should rely on their computer to protect them, not Vista users, not antivirus users, not Linux users, not OS X users. The only thing that ensures total security is an educated user that knows what and what not to do, software will always miss something.

[Jengajam2]

I've always been an opponent of MySpace and Facebook, just because people seem to always post sensitive information such as where they live, their school, phone number etc (when I say "people", I mean a good percentage of MySpace users, including several people I know). The threat of viruses just makes it worse, since besides the preinstalled programs you get from places like Best Buy (which shouldn't be depended on), they're in serious trouble of getting infected...

[fiddler616]

Privacy is going to become an increasingly hot topic. Why? The explosion of social networking sites (and blogs), the increase in cloud computing (do you want your digital life stored on some random company's servers?) and stories like the one where a guy was able to get into the bank account of a friend of a friend by doing the 'forgot your password?' thing on the bank, GMail (the bank sent an email there) and the college email (GMail sent an email there).
And viruses certainly aren't going to help.

[handy]

[citation needed]

These are just a few of the very many links available from a quick Scroogle on facebook data mining:

[Edit:] The first link is a youtube movie which is pretty good.

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=OwnTWZ1-UWY

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook#Beacon

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook#Privacy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Facebook

http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1213/p13s01-legn.html

[fiddler616]

These are just a few of the very many links available from a quick Scroogle on facebook data mining:

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=OwnTWZ1-UWY

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook#Beacon

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook#Privacy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Facebook

http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1213/p13s01-legn.html
Thanks.

[zmjjmz]

I didn't RTFA, but does this hook into IE to get the virus in, or are people just plain fscked?

[Malcy]

It works something like this:

You receive an email in your Facebook inbox that appears to be from one of your Face book friends. In it there is a video link for a video about that friend. If you click on the link for the video, you are asked to download the latest version of Flash player. What actually happens is that a virus called koobface is downloaded. This harvests things like bank account details from when you log in to banks or by searching for cookies from online transactions.

So it will only affect Windows users.

[zmjjmz]

Actually the virus seems to only affect Windows users, but there's nothing stopping it from going to *nix platforms at all. It's social engineering entirely.

[fiddler616]

Actually the virus seems to only affect Windows users, but there's nothing stopping it from going to *nix platforms at all. It's social engineering entirely.
I agree that a *nix user could be asked to download Flash(aka koobface), but koobface can't do squat on a non-Windows system.