LifeLock Blog

Facebook has constant malware attacks that most can void simply by not allowing the application access to their account. This recent malware attack, piggybacking on Charlie Sheen’s recent publicity, is much like the others except it uses a technique called click jacking to make it a little bit more effective.

The scam works like this. You see the article posted by a friend with a catchy title like “RIP! Charlie Sheen Found Dead at his House.” You click it and it takes you to a page that looks much like Youtube but isn’t. If you click anywhere on the page the malware gains access to your Facebook profile and it will start to post itself to others profiles. This is followed by a survey, that to this day I don’t know why people fill out, and then some reports of an actual virus that installs itself onto your computer.

If you click this link all you need to do is go to Account>>Privacy Setting.  In the bottom left you will see a section called ‘apps and websites’ click the link that says Edit your settings. Find the recent addition and remove the application’s access to your account. Then find the posts it made to friends walls and your own and remove them. That should take care of it.

Charlie Sheen has been all over the place this week, his show ‘Two and a Half Men’ has had the rest of it’s 8 episodes canceled, he had a very interesting interview with Pierce Morgan, and he joined Twitter making a world record for shortest amount of time to reach 1 Million followers. All that to say he is getting a lot of attention on the internet and elsewhere. Cyber criminals and mischief-makers start to see dollar signs and are seeking to poison search results with Charlie Sheen keywords.

Every time someone or some situation gets popular criminals seek to take advantage of it. We see it with Facebook issues and we saw it with Obama’s inaugural speech among many others. According to the spokesperson over at Invincea, a software security firm, criminals are looking to

“poison the search results and the link would appear to be taking you to a Charlie Sheen video, when actuality it is directing the user to a malicious site. Most of the time these malicious sites are fake anti-virus attacks … where the user thinks they’re infected when in reality, running the (anti-virus) scan is what installs the malware.”

Of course these fake malware sites are completely bogus and you should never click to scan for malware virus on any website. People are getting smarter about this kind of thing, but it seems criminals are getting sneaker too by attacking popular topics and keywords. Amoung the most dangerous keywords, other than Charlie Sheen, right now are “Jenni J-Woww” — Jenni “Jwoww” Farley of “Jersey Shore.” Be careful as you Google these popular search terms and don’t fall for their trickery.

Stay Safe – The Credit Protector

You would think people would learn that you shouldn’t click on everything you see on the internet and on Facebook, but we constantly see people who refuse to learn this lesson. If people were smart enough not to fall for these tricks hackers would move on to something else. Another Facebook scam similar to all the others is using the super popular pop star Justin Bieber as it’s bait.

The malware works like most of the other on Facebook that make it through Facebook’s filters. There’s some kind of link that has eye catching title in this case “OH MY GOD!…Justin BIEBER Hits Girl For NO Reason! OMG! This Is So Badd!” When people click on it they are taken to a page that has a picture of a girl next to the Fox logo and a big invitation to “click here.” When you do you have to approve an application and will out a information forum. While you are filling out the forum the application is sending altered versions of the scam to your friends and to your wall.

The scam is all too familiar and should be to pretty much any Facebook user by now. The information gained form the users profile and form is used to make money for the creators of the Facebook malware. Who knows what they do with the information you gave them, perhaps could be used to steal someone’s identity, but you can’t assume it’s for anything productive.

If you have fallen for one of these Facebook malwares make sure to remove the application from the Applications and Websites page under Privacy Settings. This will prevent it from further spreading itself to your friends.

Identity Theft Malware up 600 Percent in one Year

I keep trying to tell people that now a days you are more likely to get a virus that you don’t know you have than a virus you’re well aware of. The days of making a virus that just simply breaks your computer is pretty much over. Now a days hackers and virus writers want a way to make money with their viruses. According to Panda Security, a web security firm, malware that is designed to steal personal information allowing someone to steal your identity is up 600% in the last year.

According to Panda’s security research they have encountered more that 11 million new threats so far this year. Most of them, about 8 million, are Trojan viruses that are designed to be non-threatening. Most people don’t even know they have the virus. These viruses record login information to bank accounts and any other online account that may contain personal information. They then send the information out to a server controlled by the virus creator. Many times the information ends up on the black market and sold to the highest bidder.

Some think that the economic crisis is to blame for the increase. People need money and turn to evil practices to obtain it. The increase in websites selling information of this nature also has created a need for malware that gathers the information.

Panda Security estimates that 3% of people have already been victims of identity theft through the Internet. The best way to protect yourself is to install antivirus software and keep it up to date. If you don’t update the virus definitions you might as well not even have virus protection. Other than keeping your computer clean you can also enlist in identity theft protection services like Lifelock that will protect your identity incase someone gains access to your personal information and attempts to use it to apply for credit.