Facebook "Nude Virus" Infects Your Photos

SOCIAL - It seems about once a month a new Facebook social virus starts to spread, and April 2012 is no different.  However, this virus may be spreading faster than any seen since the "Auto Relationship Status Changer" virus broke up many a marriage 2 years ago.  The new virus, dubbed "Nudifier" by industry experts, doesn't target your info though.  Instead, it filters and changes your photos to make you look naked.

Reports first surfaced about the virus in mid-March, when college students on the campus of Northeastern University first noticed strange things happening.  "Facebook hacking is out of control in Boston! #allmypicsarepornnow" tweeted student @marissa117.  Another student, Jamie Hargrove, came forward and complained to multiple social media outlets that all 93 of her photo albums had been changed to nude or semi-nude photos seemingly overnight.

Altered photo from Facebook account of student at Northeastern University

It isn't clear if the virus was authored by a Northeastern student, or if it simply surfaced there first.  As with most viruses (especially social ones), the author is rarely tracked down.

Anti-virus experts are warning users of the popular social media platform to be hyper-aware and avoid behavior that may put them at risk.  Apparently, the problem starts if you receive a friend request from a fake account with one of the following first names: Dave, Jim, Amanda, Tom, Mark, Regis, Ali, Jennifer, or Reginald.  For now, we recommend you avoid accepting friend requests from anyone with these names. 

We are told that the anti-virus team at Facebook is already well aware of the problem and is working on a fix to prevent the spread of the problem app.  As of this writing, McAfee is estimating that approximately 722,000 accounts have been compromised and that number could double by the end of the weekend.

Next week could be a very "social" one in the social media world....