New Element in Koobface Virus Creates Facebook Accounts

According to Trend Micro security researchers, they have detected a new element in Koobface, which enables the malicious worm to make its infection process automatic. The worm targets its automation process against Facebook.

The Trend Micro research has shown that Koobface has a strong inclination for Facebook, as during the last twelve months or so, the worm visited the social-networking site along with its members a number of times. Currently, a new element in it is aimed to make the worm permanently resides on Facebook.

This element is tricky and behaves just as a usual Internet user. It sets up accounts on Facebook whose purpose is to contaminate people more easily.

Indeed, researchers at Trend elucidate that the activity of the element begins by starting off Internet Explorer and establishing a Facebook account. The worm confirms and authenticates new account by registering it through Gmail. Following the account's establishment, authentication and usability, Koobface begins to enter the Facebook user community and add friends.

On the whole, this new element acts as any normal Internet user and begins to contact other Facebook users. Moreover, the accounts it registers on the site could be compared with the human-created account. Their particulars never fall short of their identity i.e. they're complete with photograph, date-of-birth, favorite books, favorite music etc. that are unique from one account to another.

Evidently, these deceptive acts are accomplished by Koobface through automating Internet Explorer which has set and register Facebook accounts. Nevertheless, if an affected IE user utilizes IE 6, then the Koobface task gets terminated and the account creation and registration process becomes stalled.

Once the worm creates Facebook accounts, it examines whether it has attained the Facebook-set limit for making friends. This way it doesn't expose itself to the site's administrators. Additionally, it further ensures that it doesn't contact too many friends within a particular time-period so that Facebook administrators again do not become alert, researchers explain.

Hence, Facebook users must remain security conscious and exercise caution against any possible account by Koobface.

Related article: New Zealand Releases Code To Reduce Spam

» SPAMfighter News - 21-11-2009

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