Facebook fights phishing attacks with new security partner
Friday, May 1, 2009
Facebook users were targeted by a phishing scam this week that tricked users of the popular social network into clicking on a link to a malicious website for the purpose of stealing login information.
The company said it successfully shut down two websites responsible for the attacks and was removing spam messages from the system that arrived in users' inboxes. There were two separate attacks on Wednesday and Thursday, according to eWeek.
Facebook threat analyst Ryan McGeehan said the company takes a proactive approach to fighting spam phishing attacks on the website and announced facebook had hired an anti virus security firm to upgrade security at the website, eWeek reported.
In a statement released Wednesday, when the attacks were first spotted, Facebook said it had reset the passwords of users that fell victim to the scam to remove access from an attacker.
Cybercriminals attempt to steal login information because users often have the same login and password for multiple accounts.
Facebook said it was reaching out to ISPs to get information on the attacking websites in order to build a civil or criminal case against the spammers, PC World reported.
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