The latest malware making its way around Facebook involves a promised link to a "Twilight: Breaking Dawn" game, and delivers a marketing scam instead.
Twi-hards who haven't noticed anything amiss and still want to play the game will probably next give permission for a Facebook App that accesses their profile information and fill out a questionnaire with personal data, satisfying the scammer and getting no game.
The malware operation isn't incredibly original and to activate it, users have to take steps that should set off some alarms, but it sinks its fangs into a very targeted group of fans that may be unaware of malware threats, using the bestselling vampire romance book and movie series as bait.
But it's now just Twilight fans that need to look out for the increasing amount of malware on social networking platforms. Some defensive measures for everyone to take include thinking twice before clicking on links that are unfamiliar, suggest a sleazy payoff, or are overly forceful, like the "Look at this!" messages that proliferate the web.
Facebook outlines these and other precautions in its security guidelines, but some think that may not be enough.
The need to address the rise in social media malware and implement better security measures to protect Facebook and Twitter users was sounded last month in a report from Sopho, which identified the Twilight threat this week.
In its March report, antivirus firm Sopho found that 40 percent of social network users encountered malicious attacks, a whopping 90 percent increase from just eighteen months ago.
The report points to insufficient malware countermeasures as a major reason for the increase. Facebook defends the security provided to its 500 million-plus members, saying its filtering systems are effective, and pointing to internal reports which indicate that despite constant attacks, the "vast majority" of Facebook users have not experienced a security issue.
However, a recent report from antivirus firm Symatec backed up the Sophos conclusions and found that social media and mobile devices represent key threat vectors for malware.
Social network users may be particularly vulnerable to malware because of the implied trust on the networking sites. Users assume that a link on their page is sent from a "friend," and so may be less likely to notice warning signs.
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