Hijacked Facebook accounts used to spread torture pics
'Disturbing' photo attacks reported
Shaun Nichols in California, vnunet.com25 Mar 2008
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Security researchers claim to have uncovered a new wave of attacks in which
profiles on Facebook are used to post images of child torture.
The attack was reported by Chris Boyd, director of malware research at
FaceTime Communications.
Boyd claimed in a
blog
posting to have discovered multiple instances of the attacks in which
accounts were stolen and used to post photos on other pages.
"I am still trying to process this, but one of my close contacts has
confirmed there is someone going around either hijacking, hacking or phishing
user accounts on Facebook, then randomly uploading pictures of child torture to
their funwall," he wrote.
Boyd claimed that the attacks were reported to Facebook weeks ago, but that
the company did not respond. A Facebook spokesperson told
vnunet.com that the
company had not been able to find any reports of the incident.
Boyd advised users to remain vigilant and to keep a close eye on their
accounts and user pages.
"Obviously, if you are at work (or even at home) and you suddenly click into
the kind of material mentioned above, you could get into all sorts of trouble
real fast," he wrote.
"While I am not about to suggest that everyone jumps out of Facebook right
this instant, I would advise extreme care with your log-in credentials while
this lunatic is on the loose."
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