The latest threat to your company network is a worm called Koobface, which can steal sensitive details from workstation hard drives. Like previous bugs, it not only infects your computer, but uses it as a point of entry to infect others — like your Facebook friends and business associates.

“Koobface’s most effective way to spread is to send urls to your friends with text like ‘I can’t believe it’s you in that video — were you sober? LOL!’” said Chip Reaves, global director of Computer Troubleshooters, an universal network of outsourced IT providers. “Koobface combines state-of-the-art software which can infect your compute in multiple ways with these creative lures designed to build you want to visit on the infected hyperlinks. It’s pretty insidious.”

So, how does a company take advantage of social networking sites without spreading malware and spyware to their colleagues, co-workers and friends?

Reaves offers the following advice for protecting your office network:

Anti-virus, anti-spyware: First and foremost every computer user on the World Wide Web needs professional, up-to-date protection software. that should at a minimum include both anti-virus and anti-spyware support (some free packages do not include anti-spyware), and ideally should plus include a link scanner component to minimize the risk of visiting Web sites which are known to be infected.

Claim your name, check your fame: whether you are using social networking sites such as Twitter or Facebook, do periodic searches for yourself. that is particularly helpful with small businesses to see what public are saying about you, but whether you’re infected you may find updates from yourself — which you never sent.

Use a third-party Twitter application or your phone: Third party applications such as Tweetdeck or Twhirl can help block positive exploits that would otherwise infect you from the Twitter Web site. They can plus help by showing where a “shortened” URL…

[Source] dhiram