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Facebook's Mandatory Anti-Malware Scan Is Invasive and Lacks Transparency (wired.com)
Louise Matsakis, writing for Wired: The internet is full of Facebook users frustrated with how the company handles malware threats. For nearly four years, people have complained about Facebook's anti-malware scan on forums, Twitter, Reddit, and on personal blogs. The problems appear to have gotten worse recently. While the service used to be optional, Facebook now requires it if it flags your device for malware. And according to screenshots reviewed by WIRED from people recently prompted to run the scan, Facebook also no longer allows every user to select what type of device they're on. The malware scans likely only impact a relatively small population of Facebook's billions of users, some of whose computers may genuinely be infected. But even a fraction of Facebook's users still potentially means millions of impacted people.
The mandatory scan has caused widespread confusion and frustration; WIRED spoke to people who had been locked out of their accounts by the scan, or simply baffled by it, on four different continents. The mandatory malware scan has downsides beyond losing account access. Facebook users also frequently report that the feature is poorly designed, and inconsistently implemented. In some cases, if a different user logs onto Facebook from the same device, they sometimes won't be greeted with the malware message. Similarly, if the "infected" user simply switches browsers, the message also appears to occasionally go away.
The mandatory scan has caused widespread confusion and frustration; WIRED spoke to people who had been locked out of their accounts by the scan, or simply baffled by it, on four different continents. The mandatory malware scan has downsides beyond losing account access. Facebook users also frequently report that the feature is poorly designed, and inconsistently implemented. In some cases, if a different user logs onto Facebook from the same device, they sometimes won't be greeted with the malware message. Similarly, if the "infected" user simply switches browsers, the message also appears to occasionally go away.
This is why I don't download FaceBook and just use it in a web browser.
How does a website scan for malware?
Need I say more?
Having not used facebook in over a decade, the kinds of things happening on it now sound so alien to it's origins, in a bad way. Roll on decentralised networking.
Facebook's Mandatory Anti-Malware Scan Is Invasive and Lacks Transparency
Hmm... that's not quite right...
Facebook Is Invasive and Lacks Transparency
There we go, much more accurate.
Browse FB (if you must) with your UserAgent string set to FreeBSD. Do they even MAKE a "malware scanner" for FreeBSD? If it doesn't exist for the platform, it's not likely to be offered.
I've never partaken in Facebook and am amazed that so many people put up with this crap. Then again- I didn't live campus when I went to college either in spite of it being mandatory for 1 year. Of course I threatened to NOT go if they wouldn't let me out of that. I'm glad too cause later they implemented even more shitty rules on network access. While I'm sure I'd have found a way around it- even if that just meant contacting the IT department to say "I run GNU/Linux- and I won't run your shitty network access software"... they did something like that. It was called Cisco Clean Access and they were demanding Microsoft Windows users download and install some propitiatory program before accessing the network. I think other devices like Playstation you had to call them to get whitelisted. I think GNU/Linux systems were automatically whitelisted actually. In any event. Still a shitty system.
* I did graduated with a CS degree and I regret it. Should have put my time and money into building a business. It's what I did when I graduated anyway after turning down a good job offer in California. Best decision of my life 2nd to moving to New Hampshire from New Jersey. NH is lower taxes and brighter opportunities thanks to the Free State Project.
What you need to do is buy an Apple product. Doesn't matter what kind as long as you can log onto Facebook. Go do that and stay there until we tell you it's OK to stop. Bye.
So now our entire OS is to be exposed as a database for their analytics? Color me not interested.
I am very small, utmostly microscopic.
That's wonderful. I'm sure that Christopher "Da Joos did 9/11" Bollyn has all sorts of incredible insights into how the lizard people are planning on forcing is into FEMA camps
propitiate
win or regain the favor of (a god, spirit, or person) by doing something that pleases them: "the pagans thought it was important to propitiate the gods with sacrifices"
What kind of moron would let a company like FB have full access to their device? Oh, the typical FB moron I guess. Glad I never made an account.
The article is unfortunately lacking in details. From what I can tell, the malware scan is triggered when Facebook believes the account is posting spam. In fairness, there is a lot of malware-related spam that gets posted on Facebook and they have a legitimate reason to keep it off their site.
The problem is the complete lack of transparency and that the antivirus products can remove and share information about files in your computer. There has to be a much better way to do this. For example, Facebook could explain the actual reason for flagging the account as potentially spreading malware. The user could be faced with a temporary ban on posting that gets longer if they continue to allow malware to make spam posts. The ban will be lifted as well by running a malware scan that validates the system is clean. Give the user a choice to wait out a temporary posting ban and clean their system, or run the tool. That seems like a fairer way to prevent malware from spreading.
As for when Facebook locks users out of their accounts, it seems like contacting the Better Business Bureau is a good way to force the issue to be resolved: https://community.norton.com/en/forums/i-have-been-blocked-logging-facebook-it-claims-i-have-malware-and-must-add-eset-program-scan. At least one user suggested that they are responsive to such complaints.
Whenever I get a "warning" about malware on my device, I assume that the message is a scam where someone wants to charge me to "fix" my device or wants to install malware on it.
Isn't this provided by Kaspersky? As if Facebook wasn't already a hotbed of Russian SHIT, the malware scanner is a threat all on its own.
'murkins are already in one. it stretches from The Wall in the South to The Wall in the North, from The Wall on the Pacific to The Wall on the Atlantic.
Insurrect; it stretches from one edge of the flat earth to the other.
I've heard of "impacted feces", but never "impacted people"...
'The Economy' is a giant Ponzi scheme whose most pitiable suckers are the youngest among us and the yet-unborn.
Umm, I think not. The Windows 10 laptop I have now has not a trace of Facebook on it. As I type this, I have Facebook open in a browser tab in Palemoon. I had to dig my password out of keepass since I haven't logged in in three years, but it works just fine without a lick of Facebook code on my computer.
Seriously, though, I just recommend dumping it. I made the transition to a Facebook free life a few years back, and I'm quite the happier for it. Facebook is more of a sewer than craigslist. I still can't believe people actually go there for news. RSS has been around for a decade, every legitimate news outlet has one. Every browser in the world will make a live bookmark out of one. Your friends will get used to using good old fashioned e-mail.
I never understood Facebook. It always seemed to me to be a solution looking for a problem.
You're a shill.
Christopher Bollyn said in the video that only a small faction of Zionist is responsible. Not all Jews or even all Zionists. And he had tons of evidence to back it up.
1) Rinnnngggg
2) Hello?
3) (Thick Indian accent) This is Facebook calling. We have detected that your Facebook is infected by virus. Please enable remote login to your machine and give us your credit card number.
4) Profit
I'm not repeating myself
I'm an X window user; I'm an ex-Windows user
Is FB actually scanning my entire computer every time I log in? Does a browser provide the kind of access needed to determine that malware is present in the first place?
Problem solved!
Windows 2000 - from the guys who brought us edlin
News at 11!
How is anyone shocked that facebook is using their position as the main social network for everyone to further entrench their position. One would think that we would have learnt this from microsoft. Around we go again i guess, its kind of like how my account gets disabled for suspicious activity and they keep asking for a picture of my government id but eventually they let me back in even though i only keep providing the same file as my profile picture over and over again. Its simple, facebook will never truly lock someone out of their account because they risk losing product that they can sell .
Reason #683,215,971 why I won't have anything to do with Facebook.
"Trust us, we just want to scan every file on your device to umm, errr...to keep you safe, yeah, that's the ticket!"
Because we know how much Facebook values your privacy and that they would never ever misuse your information...
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
Keeping devices and services secure vs keeping them functional has always been a trade off, there is hardly ever a best of both worlds. Nor can you expect any of it to be perfect. Considering all the crap I have found on FB and the ridiculous things people believe and click not to mention just how bad so many peoples computers are (I see alot), I would prefer they have a scanner. The fact that people can't figure it out just points to why its needed, I would be willing to bet they are the ones with infected computers. Yes, maybe one that works better, but no one is forcing you to use their service, if it is that bad, don't use it.. better yet, maybe create your own platform, get the whole world to use it then balance its security and functionality, see how well that goes for you.
I have Windows 10 and I don't have (or at least see) the FB "app" installed. When I use FB on my laptop it is through a browser.
But I specifically disabled and left-uninstalled the FB "charm" / "app" / "live tile" or whatever they call it. I don't see FB installed - how would I know?
On my iPhone there is definitely a direct FB integration (and twitter) - so that Siri can post messages and makes it easier to upload phones/videos. And this integration too can be disabled.
-Mike.
I still don't get why people are still using Facebook. Between this article, the fact the Facebook takes all your data and sells it, and promotes the VPN service Onavo that they own claiming you should use it for your privacy while stealing data and searching your computers. Seriously, drop this service like it's a plague infested burning potato.