June 3rd, 2009
Facebook is the new playground for phishers. Why? The social networking site has made things relatively easy for computer criminals. So far, the consequences have been relatively mild — mostly, some annoying emails. But if Facebook and other social networking sites don’t get a handle on security issues soon, a serious outbreak could occur.
Behind every successful criminal computer hack a simple two-step process: gain trust, then exploit that trust with an attack. Computer criminals will tell you that gaining trust is the hard part. Consider a real-world parallel: Breaking into a bank is difficult. But if you befriend a guard, he’ll eventually let you walk right in through the front door.
That’s why Facebook attacks are so easy, says Mary Landesman, senior researcher at computer security firm ScanSafe.
“Facebook users assume a level of trust they just should not assume when using the site,” she said.
Phishing attacks have been popping up nearly every week on Facebook and other social sites like Twitter. Victims receive e-mails from friends with innocent-sounding messages, such as “click on this video.” Those who are duped then surrender their login information on a rogue Web site, and then a criminal is off to the races with their identity.
People who would never fall for an old-fashioned phishing note are getting tripped up by Facebook phish for one simple reason: They trust the sender.
“People are pretty unguarded in the social networking environment,” said Kevin Haley, director of Symantec Corp.’s security response team. “You figure you’re surrounded by friends, so why have your guard up?”
He likened Facebook attacks to scam artists that prey on church communities, where members typically share a high level of trust.
By creating what looks like a safe, fun environment, Facebook has created an ideal breeding ground for phishing attacks. In fact, some Facebook software even helps the cause. For example, Facebook makes it relatively easy to send messages to groups of “friends,” or to post notes that appear on their Web pages. That means one stolen login account can lead to a lot of trouble.
Worse yet, some of the techniques Facebook employs fly directly in the face of accepted security practices. Facebook regularly sends e-mail to users with links in the message. “To follow the comment thread, follow the link below,” reads a typical note. Clicking on the link then prompts users to log in.
That is precisely the formula phishers use to trick victims into divulging their passwords — an e-mail with a link that leads to a login page.
The Facebook method is a recipe for disaster. It’s difficult for users to tell the difference between a legitimate Facebook message and a phishing e-mail. That’s why many banks stopped sending e-mails with links years ago. And in general, that is why e-mail is no longer regarded as a secure form of communication — outside the social networking universe, anyway.
But Facebook has trained their users to click on links in e-mail. And with the steady advance of third-party applications that require sharing of data, Facebook has trained users to play fast and loose with personal information, too.
“We’ve barely gotten users to the point where they have a basic understanding of passwords, and the idea of not using the same password for everything,” Landesman said. “Facebook’s use of e-mail and links “is a huge contributing factor (to the phishing problem).”
Facebook could make a simple change and stop many of these phishing attacks — all notification e-mails could say simple “login on our homepage to see the message,” for example, forcing users to always arrive at the site the old-fashioned way — by typing in www.facebook.com in a Web browser’s address bar.
This wouldn’t eradicate phishing. E-mails within Facebook’s system sent between users also include links, and these could also lead to trouble. Because linking to articles is such an important part of Facebook use, there’s no realistic way for Facebook to abolish all e-mail links. But anyone who clicks on such a link sent from within Facebook’s system wouldn’t need to log in again. Over time, users would learn there’s never a need to supply their password after clicking on a link, and wouldn’t be primed to do so when a phisher’s e-mail arrived.
Things could be much worse
So far, most Facebook scams have been designed to steal passwords. But the next successful scam e-mail could be much worse. It could lead users to a cleverly designed Web site booby-trapped with a nasty virus that deletes files or finds its way around a victim’s PC and steals credit card information. Such an attack wouldn’t require the victim to log in; merely visiting the page would be enough.
Of course, these are the same hazards that Internet users face every day — supplying login information to imposter Web sites is bad, landing on booby-trapped Web sites even worse. But Facebook users are especially vulnerable, because they trust the site and their friends. The firm bears responsibility to act before the problem gets worse.
Facebook isn’t entirely to blame, of course. Some of it is old-fashioned techno-naiveté. Users tend to be too trusting when a new technology arrives. Just two months ago we celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Melissa virus, the first e-mail worm that really shut down the entire computing world. Its method sounds quaint — or even silly — today. The Melissa message, which appeared to come from a co-worker or friend, read simply: “Here is that document you asked for … don’t show anyone else ;-).” Few Net users would fall for that trick in a standard e-mail today. But Facebook users are falling for very similar criminal tactics because they are working in a new medium. Many will have to touch this new stove and find out that, here too, they can be burned.
Here, too, Facebook is a victim of its own success. Mary Landesman points out that because nearly all Facebook messages are legitimate, recipients are much more likely to fall for the occasional e-mail trap. On the other hand, most traditional e-mail messages are spam (80 to 90 percent) and most inboxes are full of malicious messages, so consumers are much more wary when using regular e-mail.
“The fact that a majority of Facebook correspondence is still valid gives people a false sense of security,” she said.
Facebook didn’t ask for the job of Internet security cop, but that’s the job the company has now. So far, phishing attempts have been clumsy, often marked by broken English and silly-looking URLs. One recent message urged recipients to click on a link with arcane labels like “Check 121.im.”
But this weekend, a more sophisticated version included a link that looked like this:
http://www.facebook.com/l/;http://XXXXX.ru/?video_id=1319924″
(We’ve altered the link so it doesn’t work)
Notice how believable the link is. It appears to link users to Facebook.com, when in fact it sends clickers to a Web site in Russia (Web browsers ignore all the characters before the semicolon in a link). Expect a steady progression in phishing techniques during the next few months.
Facebook is taking some actions to ward off disaster. It hired security firm MarkMonitor, which has experience in getting phishing Web sites removed from the Internet. The firm says it’s already removed 240 phishing sites since the beginning of the year. When it discovers an ongoing phishing attack, Facebook reaches into users’ inboxes and removes the harmful messages. Because it’s a closed system, that technique is effective at preventing a large outbreak, at least on messages from within Facebook.
But the technology is limited and reactive. Facebook can only shut down an attack after it has started. And it can’t remove notification e-mails that are sent outside its systems, leaving users who get those e-mails still vulnerable.
Facebook is hardly the only social networking site with a problem. Twitter, which was hit this weekend by the same Russian video phishing note as Facebook, also makes things easier for crooks. Last week, security firm Trend Micro said that 13,000 Twitter users were hit by the so-called “Twittercut” phish, which promised to help clickers quickly gain 1,000 new “followers.”
Because there are multiple domains that can be used to log in to a Twitter account, Landsman points out, users are less likely to be skeptical of a link to an unusual Web site.
But Facebook is the 800-pound gorilla with the 200 million users. It should set the tone for a new set of social networking security standards. It should stop pushing users to share information with third-party applications, stop using e-mail links as a main tool of communication, and work harder to educate users about the risks they’ll encounter while using the site.
RED TAPE WRESTLING TIPS
The oldest of all Web security advice still applies. Never click on a link you didn’t expect, even if it comes from an old friend. Always type in Web addresses manually. Think before you click. Count to five if you have to.
Landesman also says that social network site users should avoid what she calls “promiscuous friending.” The wider your network of friends, the more likely one of them will get hit with a virus and their computer will attack yours. Limit your friends and you’ll limit your exposure.
This article was completely taken from MSNBC Red Tape Chronicles / WHY PHISHERS LOVE FACEBOOK by Bob Sullivan http://redtape.msnbc.com/2009/06/my-entry.html#posts
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February 26th, 2009
It started out earlier today when my IE6 (I haven’t moved to 7 at work yet as I hate it at home so I tried to keep work from being faced with the same idiotic browsing issues I have here at home) when I got this weird error that the site I was working on had a script on it that was making internet explorer run slow. First time I had ever seen that error message pop up.
Even with all the crap that you get with microsoft’s browser I tend to use it the majority of the time. I know, I know. It is out of a force of habit. But every once in a while I open up Firefox and use it. At work I do this because some sites no longer function properly in IE6.
Anywho, remember how much fun Netscape was and how you had to bounce around from browser to browser because it could not do something the same as the other browser, well this is pretty much the same thing. Why can’t they all just get along?
Case in point this little blog does not work in Firefox but it mostly okay in MSIE7/6. No idea why, but if this looks screwy to you switch over to MSIE and then back again. Sorry.
So do I remove the offending video (I think it is the embedded CBS vids) or leave them there and let ya’ll figure it out? Either way I still hate the incompatibility issues in browsers!
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February 3rd, 2009
I recently signed up for Twitter after hearing about it for a rather long time from all my techno geek friends. (You’ll see whataslacker’s Tweets over there on the bottom of the right-hand column there.)
Basically it is micro blogging at its best. You type a 140-character post, or tweet, and it goes out to all your followers (we don’t have many, so if your on Twitter check us out and follow us). One of the things I like best about it is that I can post from my cell phone when I am out and about. (I don’t have a smart phone or even internet access on my cell phone. I’m not really complaining because it is free; work pays for it.) I could even get the tweets from my friends right to my phone via text messages (thank goodness for unlimited texting).
So last night when I was on Twitter poking around to see who was there and who I might wish to follow I found LeVar Burton, yes the real LeVar Burton. Apparently someone had been impersonating him on Twitter for quite a while so he came in to clear his good name and decided to stay. He also found (like me) that blogging is not dead as many microbloggers would have you believe, because sometimes 140 characters is not enough to really express yourself.
One of the unique features he has over at LeVarBurton.com is an audio version of the blog. Not really a podcast, but similar. It is Mr. Reading Rainbow himself reading his post to you. Pretty cool. So you can choose to simply read the blog, listen to it or do both at the same time. A very novel approach, I look forward to hearing/reading more from Mr. Burton.
So while I have always been leery of celebs on the web as more often than not it is an impostor or just an over zealous fan, I was glad to find the real LeVar Burton as well as fellow TNG alum Wil Wheaton on the web. Glad to see that some big stars out there are reachable even if only via the web. Thanks guys!
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