Warning: Facebook issues virus alert

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According to a Bloomberg report,
The malicious message advertised links to videos on Google Inc or YouTube sites, Max Kelly, head of security at Facebook said in a blog post.

However those who clicked on the phony links downloaded malicious software, he said, without elaborating.

The virus affected less than 0.002 percent of Facebook users, Kelly said. Based on fact that Facebook has more than 120 million subscribers, that would amount to more than 2000 people. Facebook eventually disabled access to the links and is working to spruce up the security, he said.

Users who unassumingly downloaded the virus were presented with an image of a court jester sticking his tongue out and rolling his eyes, UK based security software maker Sophos Plc said in a statement on its Web site.

In another report by Washington Post, Shawn Moyer, chief information security officer at Agura Digital Security, a Web and network security firm highlights that social networking sites are the latest targets for hackers and said, "The biggest danger from social networking sites is that they are all tripping over themselves to embed powerful features that most subscribers will never use, such as digital image or media files with the ability to download content from third-party Web sites".

Unfortunately it seems lately that even if you leave the website, there is no guarantee that you actually have, because anyone can create a fake profile even with basic information, and hundreds have been fooled. Only one man has ever walked away with £22,000 by suing his friend for creating a fake profile, i doubt we are all that lucky.