Facebook at Risk! Over 110,000 Users Targeted by New Trojan

At least 110,000 Facebook users were infected in just two days last week by Cybercriminals using Trojan malware. This puts Facebook at the forefront of this week’s IT security headlines, along with Akamai Technologies, UMass Memorial Medical Group and Kaspersky Lab.

Facebook Users at Risk

The new malware affecting Facebook users has the ability to manipulate keystrokes and mouse controls, and was first reported last Thursday. Security researcher Mohammad Reza Faghani stated that this Trojan is different from most bugs that have been used on social networks in the past. The Trojan is able to get more visibility to the victims when it tags friends in a malicious post – this allows the tagged post to be seen on victim’s friends’ walls as well, leading to a large number of potential targets.

Facebook said that week that it had identified the malware and is currently trying to stop its spread. A spokesperson told Threatpost:

“We use a number of automated systems to identify potentially harmful links and stop them from spreading. In this case, we’re aware of these malware varieties, which are typically hosted as browser extensions and distributed using links on social media sites. We are blocking links to these scams, offering cleanup options and pursuing additional measures to ensure that people continue to have a safe experience on Facebook.”

More IT Headlines 

• A new Akamai study shows that organizations are struggling to prevent distributed denial-of-service attacks. Compared to Q4 of 2013, there has been a 52% increase in peak bandwidth of DDoS attacks, and a 90% increase between the 3^rd and 4^th quarters of 2014.

• UMass Memorial Medical Group was recently breached. They told law enforcement that a former employee allegedly gained access to thousands of patient billing records containing credit card and debit information, social security numbers and medical records. About 14,000 patients could be affected.

• A study done by Kaspersky Lab and B2B International found that an average DDoS attack can cost a company between $52,000 and $444,000. Lost access to online resources for partners and customers also leads to the damage of a company’s reputation.

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