
Facebook hit by phishing attacks
For those who have an account with social networking site Facebook - take care not to click on messages urging you to "check this out". It could be a worm luring you to provide information.
The site has been hit by two phishing attacks on two consecutive days, with a worm prompting users to log on to a fake Facebook page, Facebook spokesman Barry Schnitt has said.
During the two attacks on Wednesday and Thursday, Facebook users got a message from a friend urging them to "check this out" that included a link to a Web page similar to the Facebook log-in page, CNN reported.
But that was a fake site aimed at stealing information of the users when they typed in their username and password, Schnitt said, adding that the worm also accessed the contact list of the user to send more infected links.
Schnitt said once they detected such a phishing attack, either by members notifying the company or employees noticing that a URL is being distributed to a lot of people, the company "deletes the URL from members' pages, blocks fresh postings, and removes the redirect to the URL that appears in e-mail messages".
The company has also alerted anti-fraud partner MarkMonitor, which passed the phishing URL to the major browsers to block it and contacted ISPs to take the site down, according to Schnitt.
He suggested that users should make sure that the URL they are visiting says "www.facebook.com". If it doesn't use that domain it's likely to be spam.
Also, members already logged on to Facebook will not be asked to log in again.
"People should have a healthy dose of suspicion, and ask themselves 'why did I get logged out?'" Schnitt said. "If something looks a little strange you should check the address bar."

Adviser urges China govt to use ‘fist and palm’ salute in times of pandemic

Trudeau names task force on women in the economy ahead of Budget

UK mulls postponing Brexit border checks on food

Thailand to cut quarantine for vaccinated foreigners to 7 days from April
- Vaccinations must be administered within three months of the travel period and travellers will be required to show negative Covid-19 test results.

Defying pandemic, feminists in Spain decry far-right attacks
- Spain’s Constitutional Court on Monday rejected last-minute appeals by unions and women’s rights groups to hold any kind of street protest in the Spanish capital, following similar recent rulings by lower-level courts.

Man linked to 3 Ohio homicides dies after Detroit shooting
- Chandra Moore, 55, died Friday, Detroit police Sgt. Nicole Kirkwood said.

South Africans invested most in 55 years as Covid-19 crisis raged
- The country’s collective investment scheme industry saw net annual inflows of 213 billion rand ($13.8 billion) in 2020, according to statistics released by the Association for Savings and Investment South Africa on Monday. That was the highest figure since 1965.

EU says it’s tired of being a scapegoat for slow vaccines

Italy arrests Algerian national over links to 2015 Paris attack

Austria stops using doses of one batch of AstraZeneca vaccine after nurse death
- The decision had been taken as a precaution, the National Office for Health System Safety (BASG) said late on Sunday, adding that there was "no evidence of a causal link" between the jab and the woman's death.

Treating Pak as 'normal neighbour' won't benefit Afghan peace process: VP Saleh

Hungary’s Covid-19 mortality rises despite having high vaccination rate

Tesla enters Texas energy market, plugs gigantic battery to faulty grid

Close to 90% of Americans feel a woman could become US president by 2030
- Monday's poll findings follow a warning last week that despite recent high-profile appointments of women globally, wider progress towards equality in political representation and other key areas is faltering.
