"Facebook" Virus Strikes Again!

The term "Hacker" seems to be a tad over-used these days, but according to a news release by (Reuters), "Hackers" have spread virus-borne spam e-mails that target's Facebook's 400 million person userbase. The virus, according to a McAfee statement on Wednesday, is in an e-mail that tells you that your Facebook passwords have been reset, and urges you to click on an attachment to get your new login credentials. What it actually gets you instead, among other things, is your banking information, passwords, and other types of malicious software.


The 400 million Facebook users have long since been the target of malicious "Hackers" who try to use your daily routine through the popular social networking site in order to get various pieces of information from you. The attackers are apparently using the network's own internal mailing system in order to send the malicious e-mails.

A Facebook spokesman said the company could not comment on the specific case, but pointed to a status update the company posted on its web site earlier on Wednesday warning users about the spoofed email and advising users to delete the email and to warn their friends. 

McAfee estimates there have been tens of millions of spam across North America, Europe and Asia since the campaign began on Tuesday.

Dave Marcus, McAfee's director of malware research and communications, said that he expects the hackers will succeed in infecting millions of computers. "With Facebook as your lure, you potentially have 400 million people that can click on the attachment. If you get 10 percent success, that's 40 million," he said.

The email's subject line says "Facebook password reset confirmation customer support," according to Marcus.
 
Original news release on reuters.com

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