Facebook head of security Max Kelly, a former FBI computer forensics examiner, wrote a blog post tonight addressing the worm attacks on Facebook we wrote about earlier today. His advice to Facebook users: report suspected malware, and try not to share your password with anyone.
Kelly also says Facebook blocked the ability to link to the malicious website from anywhere on Facebook, although a black list approach like this is a never ending battle. The real solution on an individual level is to bail out of Windows to Mac or Linux where you are (relatively speaking) safe from these kinds of attacks. Of course, if too many of you do that, those operating systems will be targeted next.
A more general solution relies on an awareness campaign about these social hacks by the major sites like Facebook and MySpace. Eventually users will learn to avoid the newest trap, and the bad guys will be forced to invent yet more creative ways to get into your computer.
WoW!
http://www.rybao.com
why is it that every time i visit TC i get a clicking sound as if i am navigating though I am not. and the TC webpage i am on never changes. different website and it stops. i feel a cookiecrunch. Help.
When those genius facebook members learn they are the real owners of facebook and deserve a share the wealth for there presence they will either get paid or abandon ship. FB is nothing more than a fancy answering machine.
That’ll be the snapshots, when one pops up as you rollover a link… you can deactivate them by clicking the tools button
“try not to share your password with anyone” – that’s some sound advice, sure
If that’s how Facebook fights security issues, we may as well tattoo our passwords on our forehead.
In some sense, they are right. I’d say that the weakest link in the entire security path is the user – it’s not the out-of-date server or database. But I agree that their approach of “crossing fingers” and “wishing upon a star” are too conservative.
In the other post you said that you had to actually visit the site and click the “video” to download the “codec”. But what does that have to do with the OS? Switching from Windows isn’t going to change that people are stupid enough to click it
Agreed and if my memory serves me right, isn’t there a Mac version of this “install the codec if you’re dumb” technique going around as well?
Doesn’t matter. Facebook is worth at least 15 bil. Zuckerberg and the employees should just cash out quick. There is a story on the net that indicates that this is a possibility.
where?
so right!! enough with the microsoft bashing
Thanks for sharing your ideas and informations about FB.
Gerhard Kaiser – Google me
FBI forensics guy as head of security? Bwahahahahahahaha!
that’s what i thought when i first read it, too!
Well, the “don’t share your password” is as good an advice as Michael’s own “move out of Windows to Mac or Linux”…
retarded…
Hey Decyfer – If you didn’t have a kneejerk ‘hate Mac’ response, you would have quoted the following part of the previous article that makes sense in connection to the comment:
“Clicking on the button begins a malware installation of a file called “codecsetup.exe.”
.exe files do not run on Macs. THAT’s what it has to do with the OS. I suspect you knew that but just wanted to bash…
Not really, and I didn’t actually register the exe doesn’t run on macs part. If the people are stupid enough to click and download things like that then it wont matter what OS they’re on, they’ll fall for it as well as phishing scams and the like.
Didn’t have a hate mac response either, it just seemed the comment was out of place.
At least someone found a use for Facebook, let’s spread worms.
As easy as it would be for PC users in corporate environments, novice users, and career Microsoft software users to just dump all their software and go to Linux, it might be worth a try to run as a user instead of an administrator. .. I set my mom up that way (just until she learns how to rebuild a kernel)
Surprised they don’t say make your password 30 characters or longer, change it every 10 days, and include letters and numbers. That would sound about right.
Although if they are recording all your keystrokes it wouldn’t matter.
No offense, I am disappointed that a quality blog like TechCrunch has posted such a impotent solution to a very real problem. You should publically flogged for your comment: “The REAL solution on an individual level is to bail out of Windows…” Some people from reading this quote might think that (1) you are just venting a strong anti-MS bias, or (2) you perhaps aren’t qualified to blog about security.
There are many “real” solutions to this problem, but none of them require millions of users to spontaneously change operating systems, where they are just as vulnerable (or perhaps more so). The “real” solutions in my opinion would be user education and smarter web browsers. Windows, Mac, or Linux, people will always be victimized in this way, so long as they blindly run executables with bogus or untrusted certificates. How about telling people not to run programs with signatures like “somestrangename.nz”.
Phishing filters and more intelligible browser warnings are also a good long-term solution.
Uh hello, why doesn’t FB sanitizes every URL by checking it against Google safe browsing feature? It may not catch everything but it sure is a damn good start.
Ok so let’s get real.
How much does this “head of security” get paid for sharing common sense?
Where has social responsibility gone to? Where is accountability? Looks like Facebook is putting the blame on their poor users for not being careful – so instead of finding the cure, the are using the users as scapegoats?
someone tell me i’m crazy!! this can’t be real.
It’s real. It’s FaceBook. It’s seems they don’t need to be transparent or accountable to build or retain users, just too cool for school…
“The real solution on an individual level is to bail out of Windows to Mac or Linux . . . ”
So if I go out and buy a mac and then it gets infected with this thing, does that mean TechCrunch will refund my money?
Why the bleep doesn’t someone post a solution for those who’ve been infected? A friend of mine opened the bogus link and now his computer has sent it out to his contacts three times. My computer hasn’t been infected, but his seems to keep barfing up the same virus email to his contacts. (Not to jump in the MAC vs. PC fray, but he does have a PC, while I have a MAC.)
How does one remove the malware once it’s established itself?
Thanks!
Ive got the worm virus from clickin ont link my computer is sending the link to all 360 contacts on my facebok every day….
Ive jut done a virus scan and found :Virus indentified worm/generic_r.p
is this the worm..does anyone know how to get rid of this bug?
whats the cure?
When I first got my computer I didn’t realize how important having antispyware was to keeping it running sufficiently. However, it didn’t take very long for it to become perfectly clear. If you don’t have a good scan you will have many problems that could be avoided so easily. Search-and-destroy is a great option when it comes to scanning for bugs that will help you keep your computer running at its peak efficiency. The antispyware solution from antispyware which you will find at search-and-destroy will help give your PC the protection it needs to keep it in good working condition.