A new malware is circulating on social, hides from files in .SVG format and if opened can steal some of our data and send to others the same virus
An image, apparently innocent, received on Facebook from a friend. Once downloaded, however, the image turns out to be a powerful virus that infects our device and downloads malware on our computer. This is the new problem that is putting the security of social media users at risk.
The new malware on Facebook. To discover this new flaw on the social network was the researcher Bart Blaze. The virus looks like a common image received from an acquaintance through the social network. It has a .SVG format, so be more careful if you receive such a file. On the surface, there seems to be nothing wrong with it, but if we click on the photo, the virus starts downloading a series of malware to our device. Already several Facebook accounts have been compromised due to this new hacker attack. The choice of the .SVG format is due to the fact that it can carry JavaScript content that is easy to open in a browser.
How the virus works
If we open the image, the malware will take us to a YouTube-like screen. The page will then ask us to download an extension to be able to view a video. This codec is actually the malware. This way, it will be installed on our computer. Once our Facebook account is compromised, we might lose some of our data and send the same malware to others. This is the reason for the great spread of the virus in the last period. The social network has already been notified about the presence of the malware and the extension with the virus has been removed from Chrome. Until it is completely removed, however, it is better to avoid opening a photo in .SVG format that reaches us on Facebook.
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