“Nicee! YYour ass lookss greatt on thiss video!!” How to prevent these unsolicited and aggravating messages that are spreading among Facebook users

“Nicee! YYour ass lookss greatt on thiss video!!” How to prevent these  unsolicited and aggravating messages that are spreading among Facebook users

The past few days I have received messages from family and friends regarding links to videos on FACEBOOK. Some of the content found in these links include: “Hidden cameras, booty calls, Phattt Asss, can’t fall asleep after viewing videos, and so on. First of all, I live in the South which is referred to as the repository of booties. So, I don’t need to look at a video to see booty! I see it all over the place: Wal-mart, the beach, heck even in church!  For the record, I have retained my innocence!

But these messages that continue to circulate Facebook and other social networks are not from the alleged senders. Assuming a lot of you don’t know why they are getting those messages, I have taken the liberty to acquaint you with this existing threat. I presume that if you are reading this post and have received one of those messages, your computer is already infected. So by all means, read on!

For those of you who do not know or have not heard by now, this barrage of messages is a result of a computer WORM known as Koobface. Koobface was discovered and reported sometime in 2008 and is extremely aggravating. What Koobface does basically is tricks you into responding to a message “supposedly” sent from one of your friends. When you click on the link, you are routed to a FAKE YouTube Web site where you will be asked to install a plug-in to be able to view the video. Clicking on the plug-in triggers an installation of a Trojan horse, this subsequently gives the writer of the WORM control of your computer. The WORM subsequently “commandeers” or hijacks your Facebook account and/or those attached to other targeted social networks. Subsequently, it begins sending additional INVITES to your friends. And this goes on until everyone gets infected.

I am not going to bore you with technical details on Koobface, but what I will do is “beg” you to take several actions to save us all further aggravation. The “advice” I give below may not be the ultimate panacea, but they do help prevent being infected by malware. Please continue reading!   

1. BE CAUTIOUS – Watch what you click on or should I say, investigate before clicking.
2. ALERT YOUR FRIENDS – If your name appears in a post that you didn’t initiate, send an alert to your friends and family and let them know that you are not the one sending those posts and that they should DELETE it immediately.    
3. INSTALL AND FREQUENTLY UPDATE YOUR ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE and run a virus checker always. If you don’t have antivirus software, look online and find a FREE one although you should investigate the conditions of “FREE” before proceeding to installation. AVG Antivirus from www.Grisoft.Com works for some people; you might want to try the free one.       
4. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO DELETE YOUR FACEBOOK ACCOUNT IF YOU ARE A VICTIM OF THESE MESSAGES.  If you discover that you’ve been infected by KoobFace, log out of FACEBOOK and clean your computer. Logging out of Facebook prevents the worm from having the ability to keep posting more links.

1. IF YOU SPEND LONG HOURS ON THE INTERNET, USE A COMPUTER WITH A DIFFERENT OPERTING SYSTEM (Linux or Mac) – IF YOU CAN AFFORD IT.  This way, you can save your important files on a back up computer that does not connect to the Internet frequently. Here’s why I suggest this: I run a total of 7 computers at home; only two of them have Microsoft Windows operating system installed on them (Server2003 and XP>>now piloting Windows 7).  The others run various distributions of Linux (Ubuntu Server and client, Mandriva, and Slackware). And then of course there’s my Macintosh OS X. Obviously, by now you think I am crazy running all these systems. No, I am not; this act of eccentricity as my unique REDUNDANCY solution. If you don’t know by now, Cyber-criminals/Crackers/hackers usually target Windows-based operating systems before they attempt to attack other operating systems. Besides, who has time to write malware for a Mac?  Anyway, whenever a computer virus that targets Windows emerges, and everyone gets infected, five of mine remain online……! Trust me, I do scream when I get my electric bill!!

1. Timeo danaos et dona ferentis-(Fear the Greeks even when they bear gifts). BE CAREFUL OF “FREE” THINGS. Just as the Internet educates, entertains and serves us, so too can it bring harm to us. And this can happen when we dwell on getting “FREE” things off the Internet without investigating whether there’s a catch. You see, I am an Open Source guy; I believe in the word “Free” especially when it involves collaborative genius. Knowledge, I believe, should be shared and not monopolized – my opinion of course.  Yet, even in the Open Source community where the word “Free” is so freely used, there are some conditions involved.

Finally, I am not asking you to run 7 computers and a plethora of operating systems. NO! Absolutely NOT! What I am asking is that you exercise some level of caution and intellectual curiosity while on the Internet. ASK, ASK, and ASK, before you click!!!!!