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08.18.08 MySpace And Facebook Hit With New Social Malware  By Dan MorrillBoth MySpace and Facebook are being used to target botnet malware using MySpace and Facebook friend links. As social malware goes, this is a good delivery mechanism for getting people to click on links. Most of us have learned that clicking on links from people who you do not know is generally not a good idea. Spinning up the social aspect of malware delivery, using MySpace and Facebook friends should result in a better penetration of the malware because we are used to clicking on links from our friends. The messages look like they contain links to video clips. When clicked on they prompt the recipient to download an executable file that purports to be the latest version of Flash Player. Instead, it is the worm itself, infecting yet another victim. Source: CNet Using social networks to deliver malware is not a new thing, along with using RSS feeds, and other systems to deliver malware is also not a new thing. What makes this interesting is the social networking aspect and how the worm is reported to work. When you log into Facebook or MySpace, the worm automatically sets up and delivers a copy of it to all your registered friends in those environments. For some that might not be a big deal, for others that have hundreds or thousands of friends, it makes it difficult to figure out what is being sent and what is not.
Sharing video is a very popular thing to do, and with offers of a cool video, with a malware payload, and using the friend's lists that people maintain, there should be some decent propagation of this chunk of malware. As always, make sure your machines are patched, that your AV is up to date, and that you be very careful about what links you click. It might be that your MySpace or Facebook friend is not so diligent about his or her own AV and Patching. Comments About the Author: Dan Morrill has been in the information security field for 18 years, both civilian and military, and is currently working on his Doctor of Management. Dan shares his insights on the important security issues of today through his blog, Managing Intellectual Property & IT Security, and is an active participant in the ITtoolbox blogging community. |
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