NSFW Facebook ads being used to spread dangerous malware — don’t click on these
Hackers have devised a clever new way to trick unsuspecting Facebook users into downloading malware on their computers.
While having your Facebook hacked is bad enough as it is, a new campaign discovered by Bitdefender uses compromised Facebook Business accounts to deliver the NodeStealer malware.
Just like with other info-stealing malware, NodeStealer targets Windows PCs with the goal of stealing browser cookies as well as saved usernames and passwords which can then be used to compromise a user’s other online accounts.
According to a blog post from Meta’s engineering team, previous NodeStealer campaigns have used malicious documents to distribute this dangerous malware. However, this time around, hackers are now using malicious ads to do so.
Here’s everything you need to know about this latest NodeStealer campaign and why you might want to think twice before clicking on any ads you see online.
Duping Facebook users with fake photo albums
During its investigation into this new NodeStealer campaign, Bitdefender found that the hackers behind it have come up with an interesting way to get potential victims to click on their malicious ads.
In a blog post detailing its findings, the firm’s security researchers explained that NSFW ads are the main lure used in this campaign. These ads are for Facebook pages which feature scantily clad women as male users are the targeted demographic.
Bitdefender found a number of fake Facebook profiles using “Album Update”, “Album Girl News Update”, “Private Album Update”, “Hot Album Update Today” or other similar names. These profiles feature one or two photos of young women where their faces or NSFW outfits are censored.
Once these fake profiles are set up, the hackers then begin running ads on Facebook to promote their content with short descriptions like “New stuff is online today” or “Watch now before it’s deleted” to instill a sense of urgency and get unsuspecting users to click on them.
When a potential victim does click on one of these ads, instead of getting access to an album full of NSFW photos, they instead download a Windows executable. While most people know the dangers of…