10January 2011

Malware Targeting Social Networks May Be The Biggest Current Mobile Security Threat, Says BitDefender

24% of clicks generated by a massive Facebook scam came from mobile platforms

 Malware that targets social networks such as Facebook is platform-independent and is as widely spread as malware that targets PCs, warned BitDefender®, an award-winning provider of innovative Internet security solutions.

According to goo.gl statistics, one of the URLs used for the propagation of a recent massive Facebook scam – promising to show users a girl’s Facebook status  which got her expelled from school -  generated 28,672 clicks, 24% of which originated from mobile platforms. Users who clicked on the link – whether on their PC or mobile device - downloaded a Facebook worm and fell victim to an adword-based money grabbing scheme. (More details on this particular Facebook scam can be found on Malware City).

“When data security researchers focus on finding malware specifically designed for mobile platforms, they lose sight of an important mobile platform threat source – the social network,” said George Petre, BitDefender Threat Intelligence Team Leader. “Statistics indicate that malware targeting social networks may be the biggest current threat for mobile devices, and BitDefender can help users stay safe against these types of threats.”

BitDefender keeps Facebook users safe with BitDefender safego. BitDefender safego is a free Facebook application which uses the BitDefender antimalware and antiphishing engines to scan URLs from posts and comments in the cloud. BitDefender safego includes a privacy protection feature which warns users if their public profile contains private data that can be accessed freely by people who are not among their Facebook contacts. A list of categories of vulnerable private information allows users to adjust their profile’s privacy settings accordingly.