New Facebook virus tags your Mum in X-rated films
Rob Waugh for Metro.co.uk Tuesday 10 Feb 2015 9:27 am
http://metro.co.uk/2015/02/10/new-facebook-virus-tags-your-mum-in-x-rated-films-5056327/
Do not click on saucy videos on Facebook this week – a new computer Trojan is spreading
via X-rated videos on the site, and is tagging people’s Mums in dirty films.
It has already infected more than 110,000 users. The embarrassing new Trojan tags people’s
Mums, bosses and random friends in X-rated clips and shares them on people’s walls.
The ‘clever’ part is that the malicious software automatically tags 20 of each victim’s friends
in a video when it posts, so the randomly selected friends see it in their freed – and their
friends see it too.
Your boss and your Mum may well be tagged in a dirty post on your wall – and the malicious
software attempts to trick everyone who sees the post into infecting their PC with a
particularly vicious Trojan. Researcher Mohammed Fagani writes on Full Disclosure, ‘In the
new technique, which we call ‘Magnet’, the malware gets more visibility to potential victims
as it tags the friends of the victim.
‘The tag may be seen by friends of the victim’s friends as well, which leads to a larger
number of potential victims.’
The video link tries to trick users into downloading a file (it says that it needs additional
software to play), then once downloaded, takes over a victim’s PC entirely. Security software
vendor Sophos says, ‘A video link that suddenly needs additional software is almost certainly
a bait-and-switch scam. You’re promised X but that’s just so the crooks can foist Y on you. If
you can’t resist the initial bait, at least avoid the switch!
‘Take the time to review your Facebook privacy and security settings. That way, if you do
make a blunder on Facebook, you will probably limit the effects on other people (and on your
own reputation).’