Koobface, same old virus with a different look.
Posted by: Michael
For the last week now, almost everything I have done at my job has related directly to Koobface. What is Koobface? It is a computer worm that targets the users of the social networking websites. Facebook (obviously), Myspace, and Twitter seem to be where the majority of users catch this worm. What does it do? Upon infecting your PC it attempts to attain information about the user, like credit card info. It then spreads itself using your social networking account, contacting all your friends. The subject of the message is used to try and get you to open a funny link, like "OMG to funny", "LOL", or one I have seen 3 times this week "My video". The message is followed by a link which takes you to a site that claims you need to download an adobe update (or something to that affect). After downloading you will be infected with Koobface!
Also this past week all the computers I have cleaned have also had a fake anti virus program on them. Cyber Security is the main version of this program I see. It completely locks you out of your system and request you pay them money to remove the virus. It will warn you and tell you legit Windows files are virus and need to be removed, when in fact it is the virus.
I think everyone should be aware that the Internet can be very dangerous if you don't pay attention to what you are doing and what links you click on. User often ask me "How do I stop getting infected?". Do not open or click on any links you are not sure about...If you talk with your friend on Facebook always reply from an old message, most of these worms/viruses make a new message and if you all communicate through replies you can spot some shady messages.
A little common sense and thinking can go a long way on keeping you from becoming infected.
November 23rd, 2009 - 10:17
They are very clever sometimes. I saw one from an old roommate that I hadn’t spoken to in a while. The link said, “Hey, haven’t heard from you in a while…” Dare say, I almost clicked it! But usually you can tell when they are fake videos or cheezy “Click here..too funny!” links.