Oslo bombing Facebook scams infecting 1 user per second

Websense has found an alarming number of Facebook scams taking advantage of yesterday’s tragedy in Oslo, Norway.

Right now it seems to be infecting one user every second. The scam is a form of “clickjacking’ that replicates itself on users’ walls after they click on fake posts within their news feed.

Example of viral Facebook exploit:

Users should be cautious when clicking on breaking news trends and stories within search results related to the Oslo tragedy.

Searching for breaking trends and current news represented a higher risk (22.4%) than searching for objectionable content (21.8%), including pornography.

“This Facebook scam is unfortunate, but a very real threat,” said Patrik Runald, senior manager of security research, Websense. “Criminals know how to take advantage of disasters and the hottest news items to get people to click on infected links. Tragedy is just one type of news that the bad guys use to exploit, compromise and infect your computer. Videos are an especially popular lure; we saw the same thing when Osama bin Laden died and when Casey Anthony was acquitted. During times of crisis or breaking news, your best bet is to stick with the largest news organizations you trust. Avoid the potentially dangerous halls of search engines and social media sites, which are more susceptible to compromise.”