FBI warning: face-off with Facebook actually a virus
The FBI issued a warning today about e-mails that purport to link readers to an article about the FBI v. Facebook. The bureau says the link is a virus, part of the Storm Worm botnet (a collection of compromised computers under the remote control of a criminal) that can make readers vulnerable to identify theft -- and make government computers vulnerable to national security threats.
"The spammers spreading this virus are preying on Internet users and making their computers an unwitting part of criminal botnet activity," said Special Agent Richard Kolko. "We urge citizens to help prevent the spread of botnets by becoming Web-savvy" and making sure their computers are not compromised.
The warning was issued by the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center, which focuses on cyber crime.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation began in 1908 as a federal crime buster, first capturing the public imagination in the 1930s, at the height of the Depression, when the G-men (government men) battled a crime wave that included John Dillinger and Ma Parker. The popular Most Wanted List came in the 1950s.
The bureau has cracked memorable cases -- such as the plot by eight Nazis to sneak into the U.S. to sabotage during World War II and the Oklahoma City bombing more recently. The FBI has also suffered some notable lapses -- a special agent, Robert Hanssen, spent nearly his entire career in the bureau as a Soviet spy. And Director J. Edgar Hoover, who took the helm in 1924 and stayed for 50 years, was infamous for spying on perceived enemies such as civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
Marking its 100th anniversary, the FBI now boasts an art theft unit and a cyber crime unit.
What would J. Edgar say?
-- Johanna Neuman
Photo: Matthew Cavanaugh / European Pressphoto Agency
