Security researchers claim to have uncovered a new wave of attacks in which profiles on Facebook are used to post images of child torture.

The attack was reported by Chris Boyd, director of malware research at FaceTime Communications.

Boyd claimed in a blog posting to have discovered multiple instances of the attacks in which accounts were stolen and used to post photos on other pages.

"I am still trying to process this, but one of my close contacts has confirmed there is someone going around either hijacking, hacking or phishing user accounts on Facebook, then randomly uploading pictures of child torture to their funwall," he wrote.

Boyd claimed that the attacks were reported to Facebook weeks ago, but that the company did not respond. A Facebook spokesperson told vnunet.com that the company had not been able to find any reports of the incident.

Boyd advised users to remain vigilant and to keep a close eye on their accounts and user pages.

"Obviously, if you are at work (or even at home) and you suddenly click into the kind of material mentioned above, you could get into all sorts of trouble real fast," he wrote.

"While I am not about to suggest that everyone jumps out of Facebook right this instant, I would advise extreme care with your log-in credentials while this lunatic is on the loose."