Hackers Attack Facebook Users by Malicious ‘Video Player’ Update

F-Secure, an IT security company, has alerted all Web users that a phony Facebook website is utilizing a malevolent JavaScript in the pretext of installing a Flash Player update. This software update claims that it will enable users to view a video.

F-Secure said - like always the user, who thinks he can watch the video via a simple upgrade of his Player, actually finds a CAPTCHA pop-up accompanying it.

Lim Choon, Web Security Analyst at F-Secure, states that if a user types anything inside the field, a message appears stating that the entry is incorrect. The pop-up message also adds that further attempts would lead to the screen's closure, but it would meanwhile turn 'off' as well as 'on' intermittently, as reported by SCMagazine on October 21, 2009.

F-Secure claims that the eventual malfunctioning of the screen is because of a malware detected by the company as 'Trojan:W32/Agent.MDN.' The malware copies and pastes one or two files on C:\\Windows, erases itself as well as makes some registry entries.

While a huge number of people are connected to Facebook and the site allows them to share video pictures, images and applications, more and more users are becoming hackers' targets who take advantage of the social network for distributing their malware. Moreover, a URL filtering program that blacklists fake/malicious websites or includes whitelists websites, safe for visiting, could stop users from visiting a site, which could contaminate their computers.

According to the security company, staying vigilant is not limited to users alone so far as security is concerned, even the most professional webmasters are challenged to maintain security of their websites.

During the months gone by, Facebook has been under attack from fresh virus variants and malicious applications. A problem currently facing Facebook is that users can develop software and release them on the social networking site without necessarily making them go through security checks. While this open facility towards software development represents large benefits in a number of ways, it also results in the hazards that Facebook has confronted during the past periods.

Related article: Hackers Redirect Windows Live Search to Malicious Sites

» SPAMfighter News - 10/31/2009