Facebook Error/Outage

You may already be aware of the Facebook worm that is spreading through Facebook for weeks now. As a result, Facebook are resetting some user passwords and scrubbing the service for the malicious links to eradicate the worm.

So if you are unable to use Facebook right now this is the most likely cause.

Heres what Craig Schmugar, a threat researcher at McAfee Inc. had to say on the matter:

"We're not seeing increases in propagation," he acknowledged today, but noted that cleanup was a tough chore for Facebook. "It's a bit of a cat-and-mouse game for them," he said. "There are certainly millions of links on Facebook. How do you know which are the bad ones, which are the good ones? That's not without problems."

Wednesday, Schmugar was one of the first security researchers to notice Koobface's spread and notify Facebook.

Earlier in the week, Facebook users began reporting receiving spam messages such as "You look just awesome in this new movie" or "You look so amazing funny on our new video" that tried to dupe them into clicking on a link. Schmugar said that if they did, they were taken to one of several compromised sites that then displayed a fake error message claiming that Adobe System Inc.'s Flash was out of date, and prompted them to download an update.

The "update" was nothing of the kind, but instead was an executable file that installed the Koobface worm, which in turn installed a background proxy server that redirected all Web traffic. According to Schmugar, the proxy servers listens on TCP port 9090, particularly for search requests to the major search engines, including Google, Yahoo and Microsoft's Live Search.

Today, Facebook said it was dealing with the worm. "We're working quickly to update our security systems to minimize any further impact, including resetting passwords on infected accounts, removing the spam messages and coordinating with third parties to remove redirects to malicious content elsewhere on the Web," said spokesman Barry Schnitt in an e-mail.

Users are advised not to click unfamiliar links and delete them straight away.

See the post: Facebook Virus for more

Internet Explorer Security Risk

Internet Explorer has seen some threats and bugs in the past, but IE 7 users are being urged by internet experts to switch to an alternative Web Browser for the moment. If successfully exploited, Internet Explorers vulnerability could give control of your computer to hackers. They would have the same control as the local user and leave your entire computer and the hard drive open to cyber criminals.

BBC reporter spoke to John Curran, head of Windows at Microsoft UK, this is what Microsoft said.

1. How serious is this?
   
   Mr Curran told me that only a tiny proportion of websites were infected, but given the sheer scale of today's web, that could affect a large number of people.
   So, he said, "it is certainly something people should take seriously."
   
   2. So what should IE users do?
   
   Microsoft is working on a patch but in the meantime Mr Curran said there were four steps to take.
   - make sure anti-virus software is up to date.
   - run Internet Explorer 7 or 8 in "protected mode".
   - set Internet Explorer zone security setting to "High"
   - Windows users should enable Automatic Updates so that they get any patch that is issued.
   
   But of course doing all of that is not only time-consuming, it will make your web browsing experience slower and less rewarding. Which brings us to the final question.
   
   3. Shouldn't you switch to another browser until the patch come out?
   
   This has been the advice of a number of security firms - who of course are also touting their latest anti-virus products - but you won't be surprised to hear that Mr Curran disagrees. He told me he had recently seen a report which listed another browser as having the highest number of vulnerabilities. "it would not be advisable," he said,"to send people from one vulnerability (in Internet Explorer) to multiple vulnerabilities."

Of course Microsoft don’t want to lose customers but the risk o this threat is high, so be strongly advised to switch to Firefox or an alternative and protect your computer with Antivirus.

Get the latest Antivirus software from Amazon

Facebook Virus - It Alright If I Upload This Picture of Us to Facebook

It is a virus/ worm that spreads through a Facebook profile or Friendlist in msn messenger, you first get a message which looks like this: "it alright if i upload this picture of us to Facebook", then the person will send a file request with a random name. The file could be combined together with some sort of keylogger that spys through what you type/ and do on your computer. So, it could be extremely dangerous since the creator could see all your important password, such as your online banking password.

How does it spread?

There are 2 ways for "it alright if i upload this picture of us to Facebook" to spread.

1. Through MSN messenger: Once a person has accepted the file with the random file name (as mentioned above), the virus would be spreading to all the friends on the friendlist automatically everytime you log into your account. So don't blame your friend who sent you the virus, they are victims!
2. Through Facebook: This virus could be spread though Facebook too. It would be a message with a random URL, the URL takes you to a fake site (like youtube) and ask you to download a file. Once you've downloaded and installed, you would spread it through Facebook/ MSN messenger.

Best way to avoid it:

Do not open ANYTHING before making sure that it's sent directly by your friend. You can always check by replying a simple message like, "Hey, what is this?".

How to remove and get rid of this virus?

As I have mentioned, this virus can do more than what you think.

The best way to remove this virus is to install Netcom3 spyware remover as soon as possible. This will remove your virus (If you've already got infected) and also keep your computer spyware free in the future.

Related post: http://spywareclinic.blogspot.com/2008/12/facebook-virus.html

Facebook Virus

Over the past few months there has been a virus(s) going around Facebook. The Facebook virus itself has morphed and is becoming more difficult to identify and remove from your computer. AVG dosnt seem to pick up on the virus nor do some other anti virus packages.

One such instance of the Facebook virus is a message appearing like this:

"Subject: Hey friend. "You've been catched on hidden cam, yo."

Or something similar.



There is a link accompanying the message and if clicked will takes you to what appears to be a YouTube video. This is not YouTube. When you click the video to begin, a message pops up and says you first need to download a newer Flash player to play the video. Do not do this. It's a virus.


The main affect of the Facebook virus is to change your Proxy settings in your web browser. If you suspect that this is the case then you may have to change your proxy settings in firefox/IE after removing it - the proxy settings will still be set to ues the little tinyproxy and after it's gone will not be able to connect until you reset them.

In Firefox: Tools Menu -> Options... -> Advanced Tab -> Network Tab -> "Settings" button under Connection.

In IE7: Tools Menu -> Internet Options -> Connections Tab -> "Lan Settings" button -> Uncheck "use a proxy server"

In IE6: Same as IE7.



If you suspect that a message you received is not from a friend and is in fact the Facebook virus, DONT CLICK ANY LINKS ATTACHED.

Be sure you have the right antivirus software to deal with it and keep it updated.

Cyber Monday Internet Security Tips

Most people are aware of cyber Monday and what it means in terms of internet security। Basically cyber Monday is going to be the busiest shopping day online with millions of people turning for the internet to find that perfect Christmas gift, and why not. There has never been such a wide variety of goods available for sale online but also there is a high risk of getting ripped off. Not by the retailers but by hackers who are ready in waiting for would be shoppers to enter there credit card details on their webpage.

Cyber Monday was however invented by the media and christened as the first shopping day of Christmas in recent times due to the huge surge in sales reported by offline and online retailers alike. The media’s spin is one thing but the risk of your bank account being wiped out is another thing. Here are some tips to safe while shopping online in the run up to Christmas.

1. Don’t use a public computer to do your online Christmas shopping, remember you are in public and you are opening yourself up to a whole range of problems by doing so.
   On the order page, before you enter your payment details, check that the URL starts with https:// or shttp:// and that there is a security icon such as a padlock or unbroken key in the corner of the screen. This indicates that the website is secure.
2. If you haven’t already done so, get some internet security protection। Firewall, anti virus and anti spyware is a must as starting in mid October in the run up to the shopping season there has been the highest reported amount of spyware attacks compared with any other time of year.
3. Beware of fraudulent emails। Thousands of these emails are in circulation all the time. Many claim to be from your bank, more from Paypal and others from credit card companies. Unfortunately there are still people unaware of these emails and are willing to surrender sensitive information to these thieves. Your bank, paypal or credit card company DO NOT request account information via email. If you do receive one of these emails report it to your bank and do not follow any instructions contained within the email.
4. If at all possible do not make your online purchases on or near cyber Monday। This is easier said than done but is a wise move if you want to make sure you are not the victim of fraud.
5. If you have a few credit cards, only use one for your online shopping at Christmas। This way you are limiting your exposure to fraud and make all purchases made easily traced in your credit card statement.
6. Avoid shopping online via a WIFI connection or Internet hotspot in stores or other public places. There isn’t a sufficient level of security o such connections and are susceptible to hackers. Never access your online bank account using Wifi either.

Slow Computers = Problems

Most Pc users complain about how slow their computer is at some point. Maybe your processor can’t handle the work you’re giving it or the RAM just isn’t enough, more than likely you have some sort of spyware infection.

If it takes forever for the computer to boot or if you could have time to run a mini marathon while a program loads then it sounds like a spyware infection. Spyware runs in the background while you go about your business and you have no idea its there but it is using up your computers resources and causes your system to slow down considerably.

If this is the case you may find that your computer freezes, crashes, shows a blue screen or re-boots itself. In order to restore your computer and all its resources you need the right tools in the form of a scanner and cleaner. There are many free scanners but I have found that they just don’t do the trick. They are designed to do some of the cleaning and then stop until you upgrade to the professional edition. That is their sole purpose. You are far better off to invest in a good scanner and relax knowing that it is doing a good job and your computer is clean and functioning the way it should. Most people don’t remember the last time their computer ran smoothly and wasn’t so slow. If you are using the computer for business purposes you are opening yourself up to a whole world of scam artists and hackers who are itching for the next victim to steal personal and sensitive information from.

Once you install a professional cleaner on your computer you will notice that it runs the way it did when you first bought it. No blue screens, crashing all the time or slow response to commands. More importantly when you are logging into your bank account you will not have that feeling that it isn’t as secure as it should be.

SpywareStop

Here is a new Spyware and Adware remover i came across. Its called SpywareStop. It gives your computer protection from Spyware and Adware and has a free demo available. As with most free demo's it only scans your computer for infected files but does not remove them. You have to upgrade to remove the infected files. I wont bore you with too many details but instead point out the main features.

The main features are as follows:

• Scan your computer for hidden AdWare and Spyware, Remove them permanently


• Blocks adware and spyware from sneaking into your system


• You are notified the moment a spyware application attempts to run on your system


• Remove Spyware, Adware, Trojans, Dialers, and Other Dangerous Parasites

SpywareStop has a user friendly interface and they offer 24/7 tech support to their customers.

More information on Spyware Stop/............