Facebook Locks Out 45,000 Accounts After Ramnit Virus Spreads

James Johnson — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 14:30:54 +0000

Facebook on Sunday acted quickly to stop the spread of the Ramnit worm by temporarily shutting down 45,000 Facebook accounts.

Ramnit originally debuted in April 2010 but just recently made it’s way onto the world’s largest social network. Once infected a users login details can be captured and malicious links posted to their Facebook wall.

Recognizing the severity of the worm an Israel computer firm said on its blog:

“It was fairly straightforward to detect that over 45,000 Facebook login credentials have been stolen worldwide, mostly from users in the United Kingdom and France.”

The firm continued:

“We suspect that the attackers behind Ramnit are using the stolen credentials to log-in to victims’ Facebook accounts and to transmit malicious links to their friends, thereby magnifying the malware’s spread even further,” the firm said.

Users with stolen information could potentially find their private information on the black market which is one of the reasons Facebook acted quickly to remove account access for affected accounts.

Facebook acknowledged the worm which they say was discovered last week by the security firm.

According to Facebook:

“Our security experts have reviewed the data, and while the majority of the information was out-of-date, we have initiated remedial steps for all affected users to ensure the security of their accounts.

“Thus far, we have not seen the virus propagating on Facebook itself, but have begun working with our external partners to add protections to our anti-virus systems to help users secure their devices.”

Facebook would like users to avoid clicking on strange links and report any potentially dangerous activity.

Facebook Locks Out 45,000 Accounts After Ramnit Virus Spreads is a post from: The Inquisitr

Facebook Worm “Koobface” Morphs Into New Form

JR — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 15:27:42 +0000

Koobface, the Facebook worm that takes over computers by spreading through the social network, is back in a new form. The newly tweaked Facebook worm works like its predecessor, only with an updated look and code that might not be caught as quickly.

Facebook Worm 2.0

Koobface tricks you into following a link that looks like it’s from a friend. It’ll usually look like a link to a video of someone you know. Once you open the link, though, you’ll be told you need to download an update to your video player. That update is actually the Facebook worm threat in disguise.

The new variant, discovered by researchers at Trend Micro, poses as a YouTube page. It’ll even display your name and photo from Facebook to give a nonthreatening appearance to unsuspecting users.

(Image courtesy Trend Micro)

Facebook-Aided Virus Spread

Once you agree to install the software it offers, the Koobface worm will take over your computer and hijack your Facebook account. It’ll then live up to its Facebook virus reputation by sending messages to your friends and attempting to infect them.

“It also sends and receives information from an infected machine by connecting to several servers,” says Trend Micro’s Rik Ferguson. “This allows hackers to execute commands on the affected machine.”

The new Koobface virus has also been detected on several other social networks, including MySpace, Bebo, Friendster, Hi5, and Live Journal.

Koobface Protection

Keeping yourself safe from Koobface is simple: Be very cautious of what you click. Even if something appears to have come from a friend, remember that their account could be infected and the message may not actually be from them. Make sure you know where you’re going before you click.

Once you do follow a link, never install software updates directly from that page. If you receive a notice that you need an update for your Adobe Flash player, navigate directly to adobe.com and look for the update at the original source. That’s the safest way to know you’re getting the real deal, and not a Facebook worm in disguise.

Facebook Worm “Koobface” Morphs Into New Form is a post from: The Inquisitr

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Facebook Locks Out 45,000 Accounts After Ramnit Virus Spreads

Facebook Worm “Koobface” Morphs Into New Form

Facebook Worm 2.0

Facebook-Aided Virus Spread

Koobface Protection