Facebook controlling 'wall spam'

Yup, yet another new term for malware on the social Web. "Wall spam" is comments on your Facebook wall purporting to be from a friend but which usually contain a link to some bad Web page that puts malicious code on your PC. The term "rose to notoriety earlier this month, when members started noticing the phenomenon, and security firms started flagging worms that were spreading via Facebook members' walls," CNET reports. Facebook appears to be on top of it (see this from the Washington Post). But tell your kids that, if they have a friend they haven't heard from in a long time and/or who just became a very bad speller, don't click! Better first to contact that friend by IM, phone, email, etc., and ask if s/he posted that comment.

Spam: Fact of life?

That’s how Americans are beginning to view it, apparently. A new study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that US Net users are becoming more resigned to having spam in their in-boxes, and parents will be glad to know that porn spam is on the decrease. The Associated Press reports that “37% of US email users say they are getting more junk in their personal email account, about half say they have not noticed a change,” and more than a quarter (28%) say spam isn’t a problem at all, up from 16% four years ago. Spam containing pornography “appears to be dropping in relation to pitches for drugs and financial opportunities, as well as scams for sensitive data like passwords.” Here’s the Pew study.