Facebook has quickly dealt with a malware attack launched using the social networking website's Wall feature. The attacks came in the form of a message posted on the user's Wall area, urging members to view a video apparently hosted on a Google website. However, the link leads to a Trojan horse executable which in turn downloads further malicious code, alleging that the user needs a new version of Adobe's Flash player.

Apparently, the only thing the Trojan does is that it displays an annoying image of a court jester sticking his tongue out:


Unfortunately, while this particular Trojan horse is more of a practical joke than a security threat, it actually means that using the same trick anything can be run on a too trustful user. Web surfers need to be more careful and avoid jumping on links to unknown sites, and never, ever, install anything they do not fully understand and trust.

Even if the message posted on the social networking site comes from a friend, it does not mean that he sent it. It may well be that his account was hijacked by the Trojan and is spreading without the account holder's knowledge. While in the past email messages were the preferred way of disseminating viruses and worms, users have finally started to avoid email-based traps and hackers are looking for other paths of attack. Lately, there seems to be a heightened interest for social networking websites.