But recently security researchers have discovered ransomware that is spread through images and graphic files that are shared on social networking sites including Facebook and LinkedIn. Among the malware being distributed is the infamous Locky ransomware. Users are being sent images over Facebook Messenger where a codec or program is required to view the content, but instead of showing the image a file is downloaded and saved to the users hard drive. The downloaded files now sits on the users hard drive waiting to be opened so that it can unleash malware on the unsuspecting user.
Hackers continue to turn their focus towards social media sites due to the growing number of users and are continually looking for new techniques to use social media as a way of spreading malware.
In order to better protect yourself from these types of attacks you should never download attachments from people you do not know.
Remember: if you have clicked on an image and your browser starts downloading a files, do not open it. Any social media website should display the picture without downloading any file. Do not open any image file with unusual extensions.