Facebook exposes hackers behind Koobface worm
As expected, Facebook today started to release information about the Koobface worm (its name is an anagram of “Facebook”) and those behind it. The update comes almost a year since Facebook’s last post about the infamous piece of malware. After more than three years and numerous hours of working closely with industry leaders, the security community, and law enforcement, Facebook has announced its social network has been free of the virus for over nine months.
In July 2008, the Koobface gang, as they are often referred to, sent out invitations to watch a funny or sexy video. If you clicked the link, you were told you needed to update your Adobe Flash plugin, but the download was in fact the Koobface malware. Victims’ computers started showing ads for fake antivirus software and their searches were redirected to unscrupulous marketers. The security firm Kaspersky Labs estimated the botnet at somewhere between 400,000 and 800,000 PCs at its height in 2010.
