New Variation of Storm Worm

August 25, 2007 on 5:16 pm | In On the Radar | No Comments

Yesterday and today I received e-mails with the following subject and body:

Subject: Dude dont send that stuff to my home email…

What are you thinking…if pat sees this your divorced dude. :-{) this is the link to it.

The link points to a numerical IP address and supposedly loads a YouTube video.  After seeing these e-mails, I checked the SANS Internet Storm Center and they have a short write-up about this latest threat.  You can read it at:

http://isc.sans.org/diary.html?storyid=3321

If you get these e-mails in your Inbox, delete them…they are malicious!

Watch out for the “Storm”

August 21, 2007 on 8:24 pm | In Malware, On the Radar | No Comments

The Storm Worm is mutating and you need to be aware of this latest outbreak.  This critter’s signature changes every 30 minutes or so; therefore, you cannot rely on your AV or Anti-spyware software to detect and stop the attack.

SANS has a good write-up about this latest threat and you can read it at:

http://isc.sans.org/diary.html?storyid=3298

Here is a variation I received today and if you read the SANS article, there are a lot of similarities; but what is important here is to realize this is just another example of a social engineering trick designed to tempt the unfortunate victim into clicking the link; which by the way is an IP Address…another dead giveaway that this is not an e-mail you should trust.  Below is a sample of the e-mail I received and of course, I changed the e-mail address and link address to protect the readers; but the content is very similar to the SANS example.

Subject: Secure Registration
From: “Recipes Galore” <spoofed address@spoofed domain>

Welcome Member,

Thank You for Joining Recipes Galore.

User Number: 866599439
Your Temp. Login ID: user1846
Your Password ID: tk604

Your temporary Login Info will expire in 24 hours. Please login and change it.

Use this link to change your Login info: http://www.xxx.yyy.zzz/

Enjoy,
Welcome Department
Recipes Galore

Be careful out there!  There’s nasty weather ahead!

You Might want to think Twice before playing Online Poker…

August 14, 2007 on 5:50 pm | In Identity Theft, Information, Knowledge Base | No Comments

F-Secure.com posted a blog today titled, “Trojans, Online Poker and Terrorism” and for those of you who enjoy playing online poker games; you may just want to read this article.  You can find it at: http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/

In a nutshell, the article points out that not only are you at risk from being infected by Trojans and other types of malware…you could be inadvertently funding terrorism if your identity has been stolen because of these infections.

Check it out, it’s worth reading.

“You’ve Been Approved…”

August 13, 2007 on 7:07 pm | In Identity Theft, Information | No Comments

It’s amazing how many e-mails I receive each week telling me I’ve been approved for a loan! I of course, know better than to take the bait; but how many people do?

As I was discussing these e-mails with a good friend, who has been in the real estate lending business for over 30 years, he told me there was only one thing wrong with these e-mails. When I asked him what that was, he said, “lenders typically do not put approvals in writing”. Naturally, I asked why and he remarked, “because there are too many things that can come up and they usually do not want to commit in writing and later find out something surfaced that would have changed the approval.”

So for those of you who may have a legitimate loan in process and receive an e-mail stating you have been approved…you might want to think very carefully before opening the e-mail and definitely, DO NO CLICK ON ANY LINKS WITHIN THE E-MAIL!

Keep those patches coming…

August 11, 2007 on 6:23 pm | In Updates and Patches | No Comments

Microsoft will be releasing a number of patches this coming Tuesday, August 14, 2007.  If you do not have “Automatic Updates” enabled, you should make sure you download and install all available security patches from the Microsoft Windows Update site.

Here is a detailed list of the patches that will be released:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms07-aug.mspx

While you’re at it, you might want to check Adobe.com for Acrobat Reader and Macromedia Flash updates; Java updates from http://www.java.com/en/download/index.jsp; Apple QuickTime; and any other applications you use.

It is important to regularly check for security updates and if they are available…don’t wait!

Stay Safe!

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