Evading the Facebook worm

How users can protect their data from the Koobface worm hitting Facebook and other networking sites

The Facebook worm is back, said Gregg Keizer in Computerworld. And this time the malware that plagued gullible Facebook users around the world in December is hitting users of MySpace, Friendster, LiveJournal, and other social-networking websites as well. Like the first variant, the new Koobface worm "tries to dupe users into clicking on a link that's included in a message from a friend."

As always, said Brian Krebs in The Washington Post, "practicing basic online street smarts can save you from falling for these types of attacks." To protect yourself, "be extremely cautious about clicking on links in unsolicited messages, even if they appear to have been sent by a friend." And never install applications or programs you didn't go looking for.

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