Social Networking has taken the Internet by storm with hundreds of millions of people using sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. However, this also poses a favorite target for hackers, who have recently have flooded the Internet with virus-tainted spam that targets Facebook users in an effort to steal banking passwords and gather other sensitive information.
These emails, with subjects such as “Facebook password reset confirmation customer support,” tell recipients that the passwords on their Facebook accounts have been reset, urging them to click on an attachment to obtain new login credentials. DO NOT OPEN THESE ATTACHMENTS. For that matter, do not open ANY attachments that request you click on them for new login information.
If the attachment is opened, it downloads several types of malicious software, including a program that steals passwords to websites, online banking, and other critical areas. If you suspect your account has been compromised, you are better off visiting the site directly to change your credentials rather than following the instructions or clicking a link in any email.
Once the account has been compromised, the hackers can then use it to send links to questionable sites or other attachments from that user, so the recipient may click on the link thinking it comes from a trusted source. If you click on one of these links by accident, DO NOT install or download any software or requested programs. These sites are designed to trick the average user by using popups to tell the user that they need to download a special player to play the requested media, or a pop-up telling you that your system has a virus and you need to download an update to fix it.
While there is no magic bullet to defend yourself against these attacks, you can certainly mitigate the risk by using common sense and questioning any link or attachment BEFORE you open them.
For Facebook users we recommend that you become a FAN of the Facebook Security page at http://www.facebook.com/help/?page=1014#!/security - there is a lot of great information located here designed to help protect your personal information.
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