Question about facebook and viruses?

[935]

Can watching photo's on facebook cause viruses? Can just clicking on a photo in facebook (so no link, just a photo that someone posted with a status update) cause your computer or smartphone to get a virus? Let's say I am facebook and I want to enlarge a photo that someone posted in a status update. I click on it, and it opens the photo including the likes/description/comments etc. You know, just the standard facebook thing. So I'll still be on facebook and I won't be redirected to another site. Can THIS cause viruses or malware?

[Rahil]

No, just clicking on someone's photos on Facebook won't infect your computer. But, if a Comment contains a XSS code then your computer is likely to get infected without redirecting you to the malicious website. As XSS code includes links of malicious websites and this code runs each time when your visit the same photos again.

[Aman]

Nope this would'n cause any viruses because Facebook is a well known site and is free from viruses and malware..........particularly a virus can not travel through a photo, it need an exe (program file) or a bat file to infect a PC. So, there is no need to worry about such things.

[Charles]

Nope. It is not a security threat and will not cause virus infection. You can try Facebook Privacy Scanner of the Trend Micro Titanium Maximum Security software.