Koobface shows its ugly mug again

A new variant of the Koobface worm has returned to menace users of Facebook.

As before, the malware generates messages to friends of infected users on the social networking website. These messages direct the unwary into visiting websites that supposedly offer video clips. Would-be marks are told they need the latest copy of Adobe Flash to view this content and are prompted to download a file, which actually contains the worm's payload.

If the code executes on a vulnerable Windows PC the user gets infected. The worm's lifecycle then begins anew, ready to target their Facebook friends too.

Posted by Justin Payton in Adware, Spyware and Trojans at 16:00

Since friends and family will likely be sending you holiday letters and eCards this time of year (and saving a few pennies and a couple of trees by not sending paper cards through the U.S. Postal Service), it may be a good time to review the "golden rules of e-mail." To prevent the "bah-humbug" feeling one gets from having a computer virus, do the following:

Make sure your anti-virus software is up to date.

Never open attachments from strangers.

Never open attachments from friends if the e-mail is unexpected.

If you are going to open the attachment, do not open the attachment directly. Instead, save the attachment, and then open it.

Posted by Justin Payton in Adware, Spyware and Trojans at 11:44