Over 45,000 facebook accounts are known to have been compromised by the worm Ramnit. This particular worm infects Windows executables, Microsoft Office and HTML files, according to a profile published by Microsoft. It steals user names, passwords, browser cookies and can also function as a backdoor, allowing a hacker to do other malicious actions on an infected computer.

The worm has now started spreading through Facebook as well as via email, a technique which is becoming more and more common. It steals your Facebook login details and your email address and posts a link on your facebook feed. Anyone who clicks on the link will then be taken to a website which will try to infect their machine with Ramnit which ultimately tries to steal other passwords you use including those for online banking. It is estimated that over 800,000 computers have been infected with ramnit between september and december, and this number will most likely increase with this latest development.

To protect yourself against this threat, make sure your anti virus is up to date and active. If you see a link from a friend on facebook that looks like it may not be from them, do not click on it, as they may have been compromised. Delete the item from your feed and alert your friend that they may have been compromised. If you think you have been compromised, run a full virus scan and change your facebook password from a machine other than the infected one. If you still think you may be infected, give us a call and we will be glad to asssist.