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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.
You don't have a choice with Windows 10. Facebook app auto download and install thanks MS!
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.
Same way it installs it, I wager.
-=This sig has nothing to do with my comment. Move along now=-
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.
If this is a store UWP app, it's not supposed to be allowed to do that sort of thing according to the rules ....
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.
This is why I don't download FaceBook and just use it in a web browser.
If you'd read the article, you would have seen that Facebook's malware warning and mandatory demand for you to run their scan occurs when people are accessing Facebook via a browser.
No, you just clicked something incorrectly.
from inside a vm, on a remote machine, located in another country, otherwise filled with pictures of cats.
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.
https://osquery.io/
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
Nope, it's an A/B testing thing. Some copies of Windows 10 will automatically install Facebook (among others) and will continue to do so whenever they check to see if they've been uninstalled (which is probably whenever Windows Update runs). So if you try and remove it, it'll just automatically reinstall it for you.
But because it's an "A/B test," this only happens for some users, and there's basically no rhyme or reason to it.
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.
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.
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
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.
By forcing you to download and run an executable before they restore your access to the site. At least, that's how they did it a few years back when I ran into this issue. For me it was a very minor problem - I simply didn't use Facebook for another couple years, next time I happened to try logging in, no hint of the malware scan. I guess maybe they have "malware forgiveness" if it looks like the scan might stop you from using the site again? I imagine the *average* Facebook user would download and run anything they pushed on them just to get back in.
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.