Singapore:
Many users of the social networking site hit by fake video attacks
A major computer security firm urged Facebook on Tuesday to set up an early warning system after hundreds of thousands of fake sex-video attacks.
British-based virus fighter Sophos warned users of the world's biggest social networking site to be on guard against posting entitled 'Distracting beach babes', which contains a movie thumbnail of a bikini-clad woman.
Sophas said the malicious posts appear as if they are coming from Facebook users' friends, but it urged recipients not to click on the thumbnail.
By clicking on it, users are taken to a rouge Facebook application information them that they do not have the right player software installed, Sophas said.
It tricks users into installing adware, a software package that automatically plays, displays or downloads advertisements to their computer, and the video link is spread across the network.
Sophas said " hundreds of thousands" of Facebook users were believed to have received the posts recently.
It followed a similar scam that spread on Facebook the week before involving a fake posting tagged as the "sexiest video ever".
"It's time for Facebook to set up an early warning system on their network, through which they can warn their almost 500 million users about breaking threats as they happen,"said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos.
"A simple message appearing on all users' screens warning them of the outbreak would have helped in halting the attack," he said.
"Unless something is done it won't be surprising if there is another widespread attack this coming weekend, affecting thousands more users."
The social networking site is under fire for revealing users' information too freely on the Internet.
Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said on Monday that the website "missed the mark" with its complex privacy controls and would reveal simpler features in the coming weeks.
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Drastically simpler interface for privacy controls from today
Facebook Inc said it will introduce a "drastically simplified interface" for privacy controls on Wednesday, aiming to assuage concerns about how the site handles user information.
"The last few weeks have been extremely humbling," Chris Cox, vice president of product at Facebook, said at a technology conference in New York on Tuesday.
Users have complained that the site made it too easy for outsiders to access some of their personal information.
People want easier, simpler ways to opt out of sharing data with applications and websites, said Facebook, whose site is the world's most popular for social networking.
Facebook introduced tools last month that let users recommend products and websites to their friends. More than a dozen privacy groups filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission earlier this month that urged the agency to conduct an investigation into Facebook's privacy practise.
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Foxnews lists 5 annoyances
Excessive e-mail: When friends take actions that involve you, Facebook may send you an alerting you
Noisy news feed: A never ending update on your friends' recent activity
Junk from strangers: It's possible for people you don't know to send you messages
Junk from from friends: You may get a message from friends alerting you to something but it may be from a hacker
Sneaky ads: Facebook uses some of the data to display ads that target people like you
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