Use of the Koobface social networking worm has surged while spam aimed at stealing passwords on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter has dramatically increased, according to a new report by McAfee.
The McAfee Threats Report: First Quarter 2013 found almost three times as many samples of Koobface as in the previous quarter, marking a high point for the social networking worm that targets users of Facebook, Twitter and other social networks.
Koobface is designed to worm its way through people’s social networks, using messages to trick friends into installing the code in computers, which hackers can then use for malicious purposes.
“The resurrection of Koobface reminds us that social networks continue to present a substantial opportunity for intercepting personal information,” said Vincent Weafer, senior vice president, McAfee Labs.
The first quarter report also saw an increase in the number and complexity of targeted threats, including information-gathering Trojans and those targeting systems’ master boot records (MBRs).
The report also said that one of the significant elements behind the growth in North America was the return of “pump and dump” spam campaigns, which targeted would-be investors hoping to capitalise on all-time equity market highs
“Cybercriminals have come to appreciate that sensitive personal and organisational information are the currency of their ‘hacker economy,” Weafer said.
“Whether they target login credentials or intellectual property and trade secrets, highly-targeted attacks are achieving new levels of sophistication.”
The security solutions provider also warned of the increasing threat of cyber espionage, urging government and industry to do more to protect bank details and personal information.
