Facebook virus turns your computer into a zombie

“Hey, I have this hilarious video of you dancing. Your face is so red. You should check it out.”

If you've received a message like that through Facebook or MySpace, you may have been exposed to the Koobface virus. Koobface comes through an e-mail sent by one of your social networking site friends inviting you to scope out a video.

Once the URL is clicked, Koobface prompts you to update your Flash player before the video can be displayed. Therein lies the virus, cloaked in a flash_player.exe file. According to the Kaspersky Lab, an antivirus organization working with Facebook, "The worms transform victim machines into zombie computers to form botnets.”

A clear eye for fraud will help you avoid this mess. You can usually spot phony e-mails by their titles. Kaspersky found the following: 'Examiners Caught Downloading Grades From The Internet', 'You must see it!!! LOL', 'My friend catched you on hidden cam', 'Is it really celebrity? Funny Moments', 'Lool yoour blushingg afce is so funny! Checkk out'. Obviously, my friends know how to spell more than two words. These are clear indicators you're being attacked.

Facebook has posted instructions about how to remove the Koobface virus: Give your computer an antivirus scrub-down and change your Facebook password. (Source: PC World)

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