Facebook has been victimized by security issues. Up to 45,000 Facebook users have been hit by a computer worm which has stolen passwords and login details.
The worm was discovered by an Israeli security firm, Seculert. Evidence of the attacks was reportedly discovered in Seculert’s logs.
The worm, known as Ramnit, was first detected in April 2010, and is described as malware that infects Windows executable and HTML files, stealing information like stored credentials and browser cookies.
When the worm first appeared, it targeted financial institutions. Now, it is targeting Facebook and its 800 million users, especially in Europe. Approximately 69 percent of the 45,000 compromised login details were from Facebook users in Britain, followed by 27 percent in France and 4 percent elsewhere.
PC Magazine reported that a July 2011 report from security firm Symantec said Ramnit was responsible for 17.3 percent of all new malicious software infections.
More than 800,000 machines have been infected with Ramnit since September 2011, though not all have been hit by the Facebook attack.
Seculert said: “We suspect that the attackers behind Ramnit are using the stolen credentials to login to victim’s Facebook accounts and to transmit malicious links to their friends, thereby intensifying the malware’s spread even further.”
The firm went on to say, “Cybercriminals are taking advantage of the fact that users tend to use the same password in various web-based services to gain remote access to corporate networks.”
Facebook issued the following statement in response to the worm attack:
“Last week we received from external security researchers a set of user credentials that had been harvested by a piece of malware. Our security experts have reviewed the data, and while the majority of the information was out-of-date, we have initiated remedial steps for all affected users to ensure the security of their accounts.”
“Thus far, we have not seen the virus propagating on Facebook itself, but have begun working with our external partners to add protections to our anti-virus systems to help users secure their devices. People can protect themselves by never clicking on strange links and reporting any suspicious activity they encounter on Facebook.”
“We encourage our users to become fans of the Facebook Security Page for additional security information.”
Sources: upi.com and huffingtonpost.co.uk
Tags: cyber attack, Electronic Countermeasures - Debugging, Facebook Hacking, hacking, Online Security, theft by unlawful taking
