The Koobface worm pops up on Twitter

The Koobface worm has now surfaced on Twitter with the latest variation attempting to create as much havoc as possible. The newest code can allow criminals to access a person’s Twitter account and post their own tweets. These tweets are used as a way to spread the worm and infect your followers if they open the malware.

The hackers are using the recent death of Michael Jackson to lure users by posting tweets like “My home video ; michaeljackson’ testament on youtube and Watch my new private video! LOL .” Over the past month alone, Koobface has popped up on Twitter three times more frequently than the previous month.

Koobface is not new to the social networking scene with appearances on Facebook, Hi5, MySpace and Friendster. Multiple variations have been released since its initial appearance in 2008. One of the main reasons that Twitter site is an easy target for the worm is the lack of security features found on other social networking websites, like CAPTCHA challenges or the requirement of a valid email address.

Read: [ZDNet]