Virus Alert: How to Avoid the FBI_Facebook.Exe Virus

August 6, 2008 - An innovative and convincing new lure for a computer virus is making its rounds on the Internet, unleashed on an unsuspecting public by a particularly ingenious--and as of yet unidentified-programmer.

The emails began circulating in July, 2008 and accelerated rapidly in August, going out to users with attractive titles such as "FBI versus Facebook" and "CNN Top 10." Once opened, the emails offer a traditional teaser story (a common practice among online news organizations, including Associated Content) with a link to the full article. With such innocuous and intriguing titles, it is easy to see why thousands of unsuspecting email users clicked on through to read the rest of the story.

Instead of linking to a reputable news organization, however, the links in these unsolicited emails lead to a malicious website with HTML code designed to automatically install a virus with a file name of fbi_facebook.exe on the user's PC. The install is coded to take place silently and in the background, leaving the infected user completely unaware that the file was ever downloaded.

As ingenious as this lure may be, though, avoiding a virus on the Internet can become second nature with just a little common sense. Some steps which will help avoid this virus (and many others) include:

Do not open unsolicited emails - No one can ever say enough that you should never open an unsolicited email. With virus programmers relentlessly attacking for decades, email users should already have an ingrained distrust of emails which were neither requested nor recognized. Still, a surprising number of people still click on emails even if the sender is unknown and the topic seems nothing short of spontaneous.

Do not click links from emails - The plethora of "phishing" emails-those designed to look as though they're from a reputable company but with links to a private server designed to fish for personal information-over the last few years has brought an awareness of how dangerous it can be to click a link from an email... especially an unsolicited message. Email users continue to click links, though, continuing an action that has allowed the fbi_facebook.exe virus to propagate itself throughout the Internet.

Know your subscriptions - Maybe you frequently receive CNN's Top 10 emails, or you have signed up for breaking news alerts that might conceivably include a news story about the FBI investigating the social networking site Facebook. If you are familiar with your subscriptions, though, you will notice that these subscriptions generally come from a familiar email address such as noreply(at)cnn.com or maybe bounce(at)associatedcontent.com. Rarely, if ever, do these messages originate from an email that appears to be associated with an individual, though the "CNN Top 10" virus lure apparently originated from an email address of nawaw_1975(at)borderb.com. Maintaining a familiarity with what emails you normally receive and the address which normally sends them will help you quickly and easily determine when an incoming email is a hoax or lure.

Use content blocking in your email program - Many email applications, such as Microsoft Outlook, offer advanced content filtering options designed specifically to weed out potentially harmful messages. Many users who received the "CNN Top 10" lure for this particular virus noticed that the news links and associated photos were blocked by their email program. If you keep your email application's options properly configured and updated, missing images and/or links should be a red flag that an email may not be legitimate.

Pay attention to details - Hackers and cybercriminals are notoriously bad at the basic rules of grammar, firmly planted at the opposite end of the English spectrum from the highly-paid communications specialists at major news agencies. While the "CNN Top 10" appeared to be comprised mostly of snippets taken from the actual CNN website, the FBI versus Facebook email was rich with grammar, punctuation and spelling errors. Simply being familiar with the English language and its nuances is enough, in many cases, to distinguish a hoax or lure email from a valid communication.

Keep your computer's antivirus software up to date - If a virus does sneak through, whether from an unsolicited email, malicious website or some other source, antivirus software is like your computer's immune system; keeping this software up to date will help ensure that any rogue malicious programs do not implant themselves into your machine.

As a basic rule of thumb, if an unsolicited email makes it through your email application's filters and you do happen to open it, pay attention to the way it is written and immediately delete any message that seems less than professional. Even if it seems to be from a legitimate source, never click links directly from an email (instead, type the links into your web browser yourself). By following these simple rules, using a little common sense and keeping anti-virus software up to date, you should be able to keep your computer free of malware like the fbi_facebook.exe virus.