Facebook Virus: 'Zeus' Malware Steals Passwords

A Trojan horse virus that originated in 2007 is thriving and spreading in a new environment: Facebook. Using fake Facebook fan pages and compromised accounts, the Zeus malware is able to  steal private information such as passwords.

The Zeus malware is disguised as a link with messages encouraging users to check out a cool video or product. Once the user clicks the link, the malware infects the computer but stays in the background, monitoring the Web browser for banks and other financial institutions. Logging into one of these sites causes the malware to activate, sending the login information to a remote server. The hacker can also tell the malware to start draining the bank account. Some versions of Zeus can even create a fake version of the bank’s website and request user information such as Social Security, credit card and ID numbers.

The malware will also hijack your Facebook account, sending messages with malicious links to all of your Facebook accounts.