News19,135 Articles

October 29, 2009

Facebook users hit by massive botnet attack

'Bredolab' Trojan reaches at least 735,000 users

Gregg Keizer

A massive bot-based attack has been hitting Facebook users, with nearly three-quarters of a million users receiving fake password reset messages, according to security researchers.

The attack targets Facebook users with a spoofed message that claims recipients' Facebook passwords have been reset as a security measure. The messages, which come bearing subject lines such as 'Facebook Password Reset Confirmation', include a file attachment that supposedly contains the new password.

In fact, the attached .zip file includes a Trojan downloader, dubbed 'Bredlab' by some antivirus companies, 'Bredolab' by others. The downloader grabs a variety of malware from hacker servers, including fake security software, or 'scareware', and installs attack code and rogue antivirus applications on the compromised PCs.

Multiple security companies, including Symantec, Trend Micro, MX Lab and Websense, have put out warnings about the attack campaign. "This variant of Bredolab connects to a Russian domain and the infected machine is most likely becoming part of a Bredolab botnet," said Shunichi Imano, a security researcher at Symantec, in a post to the firm's security blog .

Jamie Tomasello, Cloudmark's abuse operations manager, said her company alone has detected nearly three-quarters of a million phony Facebook messages since Monday. "Our count continues to go up, and is at about 735,000 now," said Tomasello. "It's a pretty high volume."

According to Tomasello, both desktop clients and ISPs that use Cloudmark to filter potentially malicious mail have reported receiving the fake Facebook e-mail.

Because of its huge base - last month Facebook said it had more than 300 million users - the site is a frequent target for hackers and identity thieves.

Last March, for example, the Koobface worm made the rounds on Facebook, as well as other social networking sites such as MySpace and Friendster, infecting large numbers of users.

Facebook did not respond to a request for comment on the attacks, or to questions what it is doing, or can do, to stymie the campaign or warn its users.

See also:

PC security advice

Computerworld US

Free whitepaper: Phishing for victims - Truth, myth and cybercrime

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Comments received


Anon said on Thursday, 29 October 2009

If facebook and other social networking sites can't be properly protected, then they should be shut down and removed.

Removing these hacker nests will ultimately protect users and speed up the internet removing waste traffic across the net.

Take away the temptation, Take away the problem, Criminal Hackers will only exist while there are gullible idiots on the net.

I agree. said on Thursday, 29 October 2009

Nobody wants viruses...

Why did these sites start up anyway?

Blazingbadger said on Thursday, 29 October 2009

I don't answer these If I wish to reset my Password I'll do it in my timw

Rich said on Thursday, 29 October 2009

To Anon:
It is not the sites fault it is the people using it. If they do not have sense enough to take the proper precautions then they deserve to be bitten. Just because you don't enjoy networking does not mean that others do not. It is each individuals responsibility to protect themselves. Just as when driving a car on the highway you have the right to be there as well as the next person, but you also need to watch out and take care to not put yourself in harms way. Do not attack the sites for being their. I use several networking sites and have not be bitten by any attacks so it is possible for a person to use these sites and be safe.

HE IS STUPID said on Thursday, 29 October 2009

His money drop off from his pocket n he blame the guy who invented pockets for trousers n probably the guy who invented trousers.

MrBester said on Friday, 30 October 2009

@Anon: this isn't as a result of Facebook being hacked to get email addresses. I've received several of these and all have been sent to an address known to be on spammers lists (not my signup address). They're just phishing for those who believe that Facebook would arbitrarily reset their passwords.

Peter H said on Sunday, 01 November 2009

Precisely why I will not use these sites.
I prefer to use the telephone - call me old fashioned but it is much safer, and cheaper in the long run (security breaches can prove very expensive).
If we want a society which protects the innocent, then such sites should be shut down permanently, unless they do something to make them secure.

Rich57 said on Sunday, 01 November 2009

I've been using FaceBook for a couple of months and haven't been targeted. I wouldn't open an attachment from an unknown source anyway and recommend caution towards unknown senders.

Uber-annoyed said on Thursday, 19 November 2009

I can't tell you how mad I am. I KNEW it was some kind of bot. I just had a bad feeling about this. This interfered with an important business discussion at a critical moment. Time to move on from FB to other sites.

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