Has ClickJacking Hit Facebook Again?

Yesterday (March 7, 2011) I received messages from two of my friends in Facebook. I checked one and it says "Hey what are you doing in this video?..." followed by a link that, appears to be, to another page in Facebook. When I clicked it however, I got an error page. I checked the other one and it says the same. I suspected that it was a form of malware, so I asked my friends regarding the messages, at least one said she did not send any message to me.

A few hours later, I logged in again and got the same message again from eight different persons who had never sent a message to me before. I noticed this time that the links-- that all starts with facebook.com -- are quite different. So I thought this could be a worm or another form of malware. I Googled for information and found out that a similar attack happened sometime in 2010.


In 2010, it was an exploit of a vulnerability of  Facebook in which it tricks the users to click on a link to page where apparently will 'like' a page without the user's knowledge.

Read the details here and here.

I found no updated information about this recent 'clickjacking' yet, but it is obviously not the first time that it happened in Facebook and probably not the last.

Just a word of caution, if your friend sent you a link and would look suspicious, at least ask your friend first if he/she really had sent that message and take extra precaution in opening any links.

Have a Safer computing.

Have you encountered any new virus or worms, malware lately?

For years now, I have always been excited to encounter new virus or worms or any other form of malware (as long as they don't completely disable my system). The latest to date is when I found the zacurama.exe worm hidden in some of my students' flash drives. Since I wasn't able to find solutions from the Internet,  I tried to remove the worm manually.

After I did it, I posted the steps in http://tekbytes.blogspot.com/2010/10/how-to-remove-zacuramaexe.html.
Hopefully, this posted have helped a lot of computer users out there.

I've always wanted to know if you have encountered new strains of worms or viruses out there. And maybe I can help you remove it from your computer. You can post your comments here or better yet you can join me at Mylot and we can discuss your problem (and earn along the way) or join directly the discussion at http://www.mylot.com/w/discussions/2434174.aspx?p=0 (Of course you need to be a member of Mylot to join the disccusion).

Whichever way, I want to hear about your problems regards worms and viruses. Maybe we can find a solution for them

Tip for Safer Computing: Update your Anti-virus Definition Regularly

Today's Tip for Safer Computing: Update your Antivirus Definition Regularly

Yesterday's tip for safer computing was Get the Right Anti Virus. Now assuming that you already have a good anti-virus installed, the question to ask yourself is, "How often should I update my virus definition file?"

Having a the right anti-virus installed in your computer does not guarantee a long term protection against computer virus or any other malware. New virus and variants of the existing virus pop-up almost every minute and if you are always connected online, chances are high that a virus or a malware will contaminate your computer. To minimize this, you must regularly update your Antivirus or the virus definition file

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Safer Computing Note: Virus Definition File- is the file that contains the list of known viruses, their signatures and even how they behave. This is used by your anti-virus program to identify if a virus or a malware on your computer. Hence, your antivirus will catch only virus that are listed on the definition file or some of their variants.

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"How often should I update my antivirus definition file?"
For Online Computers - if your computer is always online, chances are your antivirus program updates this file regularly. If you want to know how often your anti-virus program updates, leave a comment here and tell me what anti-virus program and version you are using and I'll try to help you find out.

Once A Week Update - normally if you're not connected online all the time, you should update your antivirus definition file for at least once a week. If your computer is not really connected to the Internet, use an antivirus that allows you to download an update file from their site so you can update your computer offline.

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Have a safer computing.

Tips for Safer Computing: Get the Right Anti-Virus

Today's Tip for Safer Computing: Get the Right Anti-Virus.

The very first thing a computer user needs to protect his/her unit from virus and other malware is to get good anti-virus program. However the best anti-virus program might not just be the right anti-virus for your computer.


Read my previous post Which Anti-virus should I choose? to give you some guidelines regarding the best anti-virus programs in the market.


Aside from the ratings given to these programs, there are still other things that you need to consider so that you can choose the correct anti-virus that will work on your computer.

What to do when task manager is disabled: Press F1 for Help

An acquaintance asked me to check what’s wrong with her laptop. When I opened it, at first Vista seems to start just fine … until it reached the part that the task bar, program menu and the rest of the desktop items should have appeared. It did not!

I tried to open the task manager by doing the three finger salute (pressing ctrl-alt-delete)… Viola! Task manager was disabled! A mal-ware infection!

Usually I could open the Windows explorer from the task manager by opening up a local drive from there, but now the task manager is disabled! Naturally I wouldn’t risk inserting my flash drive with all my utilities in it to a computer with yet unknown level of threat. Question is what should I do next? Format the hard drive? Hmm.. My Bart’s P.E. is not with me. At least I should be able to make a backup before I format the whole drive…

First I need to find a way to open System Restore! However the Desktop is blank, Task bar and start menu is disabled! Task Manager is disabled! At that moment I can’t think of any other way of opening the Windows Explorer! I thought I really need to format the thing… or I just need a little help.

Difference between A Virus, A Worm, A Trojan Horse and Malware

There are so many terms that refers to virus and malwares that are often interchanged that results to mis-conceptions. Here are some of those terms

Virus- or computer virus refers to a computer program that infects another program. Technically a true computer virus attaches itself or a part of it into another program or a file. Computer virus, like its biological counter part needs a 'host' to infect and spread. It primarily attaches itself to an executable (.exe) or command (.com) files.

It spreads when an infected program is opened then it will infect -by attaching a copy of its code to- another program. When an infected program is copied or run in another computer, it repeat the process again and again. Most of these computer virus are capable of leaving a part of it running in the memory (memory resident) and and will look for another program to infect. Current forms of computer virus are capable of spreading itself through the network and even through the Internet.

Worm - is a self replicating program. It creates copies of itself to available folders (directories) and drives, some later versions are even capable of replicating itself across networks. Unlike a virus, a worm does not need a host program to infect.

Some worms create copies of itself with seemingly random file names, some are named after the folder where it is contained and will display also a folder icon, deceiving the user to double click on it. Doing so, will activate the worm and spread itself further.

Trojan Horse - named after the epic tale of the Trojan War. In the story the Greeks gave the Trojans a giant wooden horse as a "gift" or sign of surrender. Once the wooden horse was inside the impenetrable walls of Troy, the select Greek soldiers hidden inside the horse opened the gates that lead to the fall of Troy.

In computers, a Trojan horse is seemingly harmless and even useful program and often very inviting. Unlike the virus or worm, a Trojan horse does not replicate itself, but once running it does some other routine that is hidden from the user, it could get some information from your computer, or download a virus or worm and/or could do something that would damage your system.

Malware - short for Malicious Software, is any programs or script created with malicious intent. Virus, Worms and Trojan Horses are just three of the many forms of malware. Most often though the term virus is erroneously used to point out any of the Malware mentioned.

More definitions coming soon.

Safer Computing: Protect your PC With the Latest Kaspersky Anti-Virus

Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2011 - Protect your PC year with an expert antivirus solution specially created for home users.
Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2011 – the backbone of your PC’s security system, offering real-time automated protection from a range of IT threats.

Key Features

• Real-time protection against viruses and spyware Improved!
• Scanning of websites and emails for malicious code Improved!
• Protection for your digital identity at all times Improved!
• Vulnerability scan and treatment advice
• Easy-access Desktop gadget New!

How to Detect and Avoid Fake Antivirus

According to CNET News, 15% of all malware these days are Fake Anti-Virus.According to the report, since 2003 malware authors has been using the web to prompt unsuspecting users to download the fake antivirus by sending pop-up message  with fake virus infection warnings designed to scare users to download and even buy their fake anti-virus software. Recent fake anti-virus sites have even been imitating the look and feel of the Windows user interface.

 

Question is, how do you detect if the anti-virus is a fake?

Which Antivirus Software should I use? (Tips for choosing anti-virus program for you)

There are lots of Anti-virus software these days and it's quite confusing which to choose from. Before you take out your credit card and buy one, I made this check list for you.