As social networking sites become more and more popular, they’re being targeted regularly by hackers and spammers. The latest example, discovered by security company Fortinet, is the ‘Secret Crush’ application for Facebook users.
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Those who’ve downloaded it have found themselves infected with the infamous Zango adware program, which automatically sends itself to five friends, Vnunet reports. In a very short time it’s already infected around one million computers, or three per cent of Facebook users.
“People are now developing Facebook ‘platform applications’ for profit rather than just for fun, but this does not mean that all widgets are going to be malicious,” said Guillaume Lovet, manager of Fortinet’s European Threat Response Team. “Honest ways to generate profits exist on Facebook, but users must use common sense and protection to avoid being scammed and abused.”
While people are justifiably wary of e-mail attachments, they have tended to be more trusting of applications on social networks. The company recommends that people remain aware of the risks and ensure their browsers have all the up-to-date patches.
