News - Security Issues

Facebook worm takes advantage of google's reputation

Facebook users are under attack by a new worm written to take advantage of Google's reputation. The worm is waiting on the end of a Google-linked page that informs you that you need to download the latest codec to watch the video. The writer of this worm knew that people trust Google and Google-linked pages and used this secuity blanket to launch his or her attack. The way it works is the attack begins by sending Facebook users a message saying something like "Hey check out this video of me in my Halloween costume." Then the user clicks the Google-linked page and when the user reaches that page it shows a video that you cannot view, and then informs you that you are missing the latest video codec. The link to update your video codec either downloads a trojan horse virus or tells you that you need to pay for the codec and tries to get the user to pay for the updated video codec. We at SecureFlorida want to remind you not to download anything from untrusted sources. To read more on scams, frauds and viruses, please go to the Cyber Risks section of www.secureflorida.org.

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