The Koobface Virus: What it is, and how to protect yourself.

As Facebook viruses become more and more popular, so do viruses associated with its use. Every day, people are falling victim to viruses sent via Facebook from their "friends" - which are actually their hacked or phished accounts attempting to spread the virus and take their personal information.

Let's examine one of these many Facebook viruses, and how to avoid it:

The KoobFace Virus

What it is:

This is a worm I think everyone on Facebook has seen before - a friend sends you a message, chat IM, or posts on your wall saying something in an attempt to have you click a link included in the message. For example, "I just saw this video of you here(here would be link to the page that steals your information)! I can't believe you would do this!".

This message is usually posted in mass to all the victims friends, in an attempt to get them to click the link. The link is usually a download of a malicious file, or a fake Facebook page that has you put your information in to be stolen. Most of the time this link will be posted to the Wall, because then it is viewable to those browsing Facebook profiles as well.

How to avoid it:

One simple way to avoid this virus is to not click ANY external links on Facebook. Since this is not always possible however, there are many other ways to avoid becoming infected.

Often, these messages are fairly suspicious in their own right. If you are at all suspicious of the link sent, send a response to your "friend" asking them any question. These viruses are not designed to respond, so if they don't respond you can be sure its not them. On the same note, how many of your friends send messages linking you to random pages as their introduction to your conversation? Oftentimes they'll begin with "Hey", "How's it going", or something similar. Use common sense here.

If you were sent a link and think it is a virus, check your friend's Facebook activity to see if they are posting the same link to others walls. If so, delete the message from your wall immediately to avoid further infection of your friends.


If you have been infected with the KoobFace worm, or think you have been infected with the KoobFace worm, this Denver Virus Removal shop can remove the virus within 24 hours and have you back on your PC with your personal information safe from hackers.