The Facebook/YouTube Virus

Just a heads up to those of you who are on Facebook (and MySpace, I'm told) to be careful of any messages supposedly from friends encouraging you to check out a video on YouTube, especially if it's touted as being of you.

I received such a message from one of my friends, except of course it wasn't. Like the writer in the article linked above, I was reasonably sure her English skills were much better than the subject line of the message would indicate, so I deleted the message. Good thing, because it turned out to be the Koobface worm.

Later someone replied (to all) asking what the video was and someone else quickly informed him it was probably a virus.

Today I received an email from the friend (really her) warning anyone who received the message from "her" NOT to click on the link. Unfortunately she was having to send her warning from a different computer because the virus had (until that point) defied attempts by three different anti-virus programs she had installed on her usual laptop to eradicate it.

So, as always, be vigilant about messages, chats and e-mails, even if they appear to be coming from your friends.

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