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Virus threat to social networking sites
1 February 2010
Internet users have known about the danger of viruses for years - but now they are a major issue for social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, writes Benjamin Cohen.
We've been warned about the dangers of viruses and malware (essentially dodgy software) being distributed by email and the web for years.
But it's only now becoming a major issue for those of us using social networks like Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn.
Sniffing out the money
A report today from internet security experts Sophos reveals the extent of the threats and paranoia. According to the report, there's been a 70 per cent rise in attacks on users on social networking websites, and 58 per cent of us have received spam or virus laced messages supposedly from our friends.
"Computer users are spending more time on social networks, sharing sensitive and valuable personal information, and hackers have sniffed out where the money is to be made," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos explained.
"The dramatic rise in attacks in the last year tells us that social networks and their millions of users have to do more to protect themselves from organised cybercrime, or risk falling prey to identity theft schemes, scams, and malware attacks."
Koobface havoc
Last year one virus in particular, called Koobface, caused havoc. It's a particularly nasty virus that can do some quite astounding things. It's capable of registering an account (in your name and with your email address on Facebook), verifying the account by logging into your email, then befriending contacts or strangers.
Then it posts messages to people, walls and groups full of links to spam sites and other viruses. Others take over your existing account and post messages to all of your friends containing another virus.
A friend of mine fell victim to a similar virus the other day. In order to get rid of the viruses hold over his email and Facebook account, I advised changing his password on another computer in case the virus was logging the keys he hit on his.
Facebook are aware of the threats of viruses and are working hard to eliminate them.
Mikey Mooney's rantings
On Twitter, a virus called StalkDaily spread the rather strange rantings of a 17-year-old called Mikey Mooney. Hundreds of thousands of messages were posted across Twitter, making Mikey a celebrity for a day.
"Targeted attacks against companies are in the news at the moment, and the more information a criminal can get about your organisation's structure, the easier for them to send a poisoned attachment to precisely the person whose computer they want to break into," says Graham Cluley.
61 percent of security chiefs in business consider Facebook the biggest threat to their security. That's not surprising considering how many of us use it.
"We shouldn't forget that Facebook is by far the largest social network - and you'll find more bad apples in the biggest orchard," Mr Cluley added. "The truth is that the security team at Facebook works hard to counter threats on their site - it's just that policing 350 million users can't be an easy job for anyone.
"But there is no doubt that simple changes could make Facebook users safer. For instance, when Facebook rolled out its new recommended privacy settings late last year, it was a backwards step, encouraging many users to share their information with everybody on the internet."
Think before you click
My advice? Other than an up-to-date anti-virus system, think carefully about clicking on any links sent to you by friends on Facebook. Is the language of the message a little out of character? Have you heard of the website they're linking to? On Twitter, where links often appear using web address shorteners like Bit.ly, it may be impossible to know where you're going to land until it's too late. That's a big and growing risk.
But in my opinion Facebook still poses the biggest risk because it's is so intimate, it's where you talk to your friends and family, people you trust. And you trust that the links and content they send you is safe. The scale of virus attacks on Facebook prove that in many cases that trust could be misplaced.
