Facebook hit by hardcore porn virus

Facebook has been hit with a surge of violent and pornographic images spreading across the network in the last 24 hours.

The photoshopped images show celebrities like Justin Bieber appearing to a perform hardcore sex act, while there's unsavoury pictures of dogs being abused.

The photos have apparently spread through a click-jacking virus, which encourages users to click on seemingly innocuous links and then goes on a widespread re-posting spree throughout their friend list.

Investigation

Facebook has said in a statement that it is aware of the problem and is investigating.

The company said: "Protecting the people who use Facebook from spam and malicious content is a top priority for us and we are always working to improve our systems to isolate and remove material that violates our terms.

"We have recently experienced an increase in reports and we are investigating and addressing the issue."

Graham Clueley of the Sophos security software firm says that Facebook may end up losing users unless it acts quickly to prevent another outbreak.

"It's precisely this kind of problem which is likely to drive people away from the site," he blogged. "Facebook needs to get a handle on this problem quickly, and prevent it from happening on such a scale again.

"Of course, this incident raises another important question. Many firms may be comfortable allowing users to access sites such as Facebook, but what happens when hardcore pornographic and offensive content is being spread. Should companies block access to sites hosting offensive content?"

Facebook contacted TechRadar about the spam attack who explained: "Protecting the people who use Facebook from spam and malicious content is a top priority for us.

"Recently, we experienced a spam attack that exploited a browser vulnerability. Our team responded quickly and we have eliminated most of the spam caused by this attack.

"We are now working to improve our systems to better defend against similar attacks in the future."

Via: PC Mag