“The German government has warned its citizenry against the use of the Firefox browser due to security issues.

The warning from the Federal Office for Information Security is an echo of a similar pronouncement it made against Internet Explorer in January.

The office warned that the Firefox vulnerability, confirmed by Firefox makers, could allow hackers to run malicious programs on users’ computers.

A version of Firefox to be released at the end of the month will fix the bug.

A “beta” or test version of that release, Firefox 3.6.2, is already available but has not yet been fully tested.

The Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) has recommended that users stop using Firefox until the tested fix is released – in a move remarkably similar to the January announcement, in which France followed suit just days later.

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The Firefox vulnerability was confirmed by maker Mozilla last week on its security blog, when it promised that the next official release would address the issue.

It is only the current version, Firefox 3.6, that is affected, and given that prior releases have different vulnerabilities, reverting to an older version of the browser is ill-advised.

Switching to a different browser may not be a good solution either, said Graham Cluley, senior technologist at security firm Sophos.

“Switching your web browser willy-nilly as each new unpatched security hole is revealed could cause more problems than it’s worth,” he said.

“What are you going to do when your replacement browser itself turns out to contain a vulnerability?

“My advice is to only switch from Firefox if you really know what you are doing with the browser you’re swapping to. If you stick with Firefox, apply the security update as soon as it’s available.”

Firefox was not immediately available for comment.

OMFG , what the world has coming 2 …

email-accounts , passwords , atm- & creditcards , X-rated premium-accounts – these guys cant take a joke

im worried – seriously … maybe even givup my FB-life !

TG – did already

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“Hackers have flooded the Internet with virus-tainted spam that targets Facebook’s estimated 400 million users in an effort to steal banking passwords and gather other sensitive information.

The emails tell recipients that the passwords on their Facebook accounts have been reset, urging them to click on an attachment to obtain new login credentials, according to anti-virus software maker McAfee Inc.

If the attachment is opened, it downloads several types of malicious software, including a program that steals passwords, McAfee said on Wednesday.

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Hackers have long targeted Facebook users,

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sending them tainted messages via the social networking company’s own internal email system. With this new attack, they are using regular Internet email to spread their malicious software.

A Facebook spokesman said the company could not comment on the specific case, but pointed to a status update the company posted on its web site earlier on Wednesday warning users about the spoofed email and advising users to delete the email and to warn their friends.

McAfee estimates that hackers sent out tens of millions of spam across Europe, the United States and Asia since the campaign began on Tuesday.

Dave Marcus, McAfee’s director of malware research and communications, said that he expects the hackers will succeed in infecting millions of computers.

“With Facebook as your lure, you potentially have 400 million people that can click on the attachment. If you get 10 percent success, that’s 40 million,” he said.

The email’s subject line says “Facebook password reset confirmation customer support,” according to Marcus.