Koobface

More cyberattacks hitting social networks

Cybercriminals are increasingly targeting social networks, prompting people to take more steps to protect their online privacy, according to a new survey from security company Webroot.

A survey of nearly 4,000 social-network users in the U.S., U.K., and Australia found that the number of people hit by Koobface and other social-networking malware reached 18 percent this year, compared with 13 percent last year and 8 percent in 2009.

In the United Kingdom specifically, the number of social networks hit by attacks climbed to 15 percent this year, up from 12 percent last year and 6 percent the … Read more

Report: Spam down, but malware continues hold

Spam may be down but malware marches merrily on.

That's the message from the "November Threat Landscape Report" released yesterday by security vendor Fortinet.

Global spam levels ultimately fell 12 percent in November after Dutch authorities took down a large Bredolab network made up of 140 different servers. The Bredolab botnet was typically used by cybercriminals to send out spam selling fake drugs, according to Fortinet. Spam had actually fallen as much as 26 percent the week after the network was dismantled but was able to stage a bit of a recovery afterward.

The ever-present Koobface botnet, … Read more

McAfee: Spam down, but malware up

Spam hit a two-year low this past quarter, but malware is at an all-time high, according to McAfee's latest Threats Report.

Out today, the "McAfee Threats Report: Third Quarter 2010" (PDF) found that though spam is still high, it continued its overall decline from January, both globally and nationally. With the exception of Russia, Greece, Belarus, and Indonesia, all countries tracked by McAfee showed a drop in spam levels.

So much for the good news.

On the down side, malware has reached an all-time high, according to the security technology company, which identified an average of 60,000 new threats each day in the third quarter, almost quadrupling since 2007. For 2010 so far, McAfee has discovered 14 million unique pieces of malware, a million more than this time last year.

One of the more "sophisticated" threats that reared its head this year was the Zeus botnet, designed to steal information during banking transactions. Over the third quarter, Zeus expanded its scope by targeting mobile devices, specifically attempting to grab SMS messages sent to validate the transactions. McAfee also noticed a rise in e-mail campaigns launched to spread the botnet by sending out messages claiming to come from FedEx, the IRS, the U.S. Post Office, and other such parties.… Read more

Koobface malware makes a comeback

It's baa-aaack. Koobface, that is.

The persistent malware that plagues Facebook users has reared its ugly head yet again.

A new round of e-mails aimed at launching the worm onto the PCs of unsuspecting users has been discovered by researchers for the security vendor ESET, according to the company's Wednesday blog.

Uncovered by ESET researchers in Latin America, this latest Koobface campaign is sending Facebook users messages with a link that claims to direct them to videos of sexual encounters. The link included in the e-mails tells the user to download a video codec to view the X-rated … Read more

Microsoft helps keep Koobface virus off Facebook

Microsoft is working with Facebook to keep the persistent Koobface virus off the popular social-networking site, the companies said on Thursday.

"In working with Facebook, we were able to add detection of Koobface to our Malicious Software Removal Tool (MSRT), which checks computers running Windows software to detect and remove viruses," Jeff Williams, a principal group program manager for the MRST, wrote in a guest post on the Facebook Blog.

The MSRT has removed Koobface nearly 200,000 times from more than 133,600 computers around the world just in the past two weeks, he wrote.

Koobface is … Read more

Facebook fights new Koobface worm, another rogue app

Like flies to cow dung, rogue apps are swarming to Facebook.

The popular social-networking site has been hit by what's believed to be the fourth rogue app in a week or so and is investigating the spread of a new variant of the Koobface worm, according to security firm Trend Micro.

The Koobface worm spreads via a message from a Facebook friend that includes a link to what looks like a video, Rik Ferguson wrote on the Trend Micro blog.

The landing page displays the name and photo of the friend. Clicking the "install" button redirects to … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 866: Harsh the mellow

Important revelations on today's show: cigars smell like dog poop, Facebook Connect is going to win, the NFL looks awesome in 3-D, and Barack Obama uses an iPod, not a Zune. Like I said, important. Listen now: Download today's podcast Episode 866

Listener co-host details: E-mail buzz@cnet.com with your name, phone number, preferred time of day (with time zone). We are shooting for doing the interviews next Monday 3-4 p.m. PST and Wednesday 4-5 PST.

Facebook Connect opens up http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10113604-2.html

So does Google Friend Connect http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10113648-2.html… Read more

Koobface virus hits Facebook

A worm responsible for sending Facebook users malicious code appears to be limited in nature, although the social engineering attack may be used again, say experts.

Facebook representative Barry Schnitt said the worm isn't new; it dates back to August, although the variant that first appeared on Wednesday targets only Facebook users.

Craig Schmugar, threat researcher for McAfee Avert Labs, confirmed this in a call with CNET News and said that, in general, Koobface strikes only social-networking sites.

After receiving a message in their Facebook in-box announcing, "You look funny in this new video" or something similar, … Read more