News Alerts are Not Your Friends!

Don't click on links in those CNN or MSNBC "news alerts"! Or similar ones that will appear in your mailbox.

Bad viruses and spyware will happen, along with possible identity and financial theft. Don't even try the "unsubscribe" links.

If you think you have problems with spyware, then a great resource is the "Hijack This" folks. Start with their tutorial here to get the HijackThis! software, and to submit your results. Make sure you carefully follow the tutorial. Those guys really know how to get rid of malware. I use them after the anti-virus and anti-spyware software can't do anything.

You might also try the Microsoft on-line scanner (www.microsoft.com/protect ) and their Windows Defender program (both free).

And don't forget your updates of all software (not just Microsoft).

Olympics Spam Warning

Watch out for email messages about the Olympics that ask you to click on a link to watch a video or get more info. They will probably look a lot like that CNN spam that you might have seen earlier this week. The links in the CNN spam resulted in installation of viruses/spyware and keystroke loggers on computers. The Olympics spam will try to do the same.

When (not if) you get those "Olympic" emails, don't click on the links! Just click on the Trash icon to delete the message.

If you want updates on the Olympics, just go to the usual mainstream news sites.

Unless you really want to have a keystroke logger on your computer, or be a spam relay, or a victim of identity theft.

Olympic Spam Warning

Watch out for email messages about the Olympics that ask you to click on a link to watch a video or get more info. They will probably look a lot like that CNN spam that you might have seen earlier this week. The links in the CNN spam resulted in installation of viruses/spyware and keystroke loggers on computers. The Olympics spam will try to do the same.

When (not if) you get those "Olympic" emails, don't click on the links! Just click on the Trash icon to delete the message.

If you want updates on the Olympics, just go to the usual mainstream news sites.

CNN Top Ten Spam

New malware'd email with subject of "CNN.com Daily Top 10", or something similar. The emails come from random users, probably nobody you would recognize. The message provides links to the 'top 10' CNN videos, many with 'attractive' titles.

But the links will send you to a page that only looks like CNN's video site. The page is actually hosted on a compromised web site. The page name is usually 'index2.html'. A 'redirect' command on that page will, after about 12 seconds, pop up a message about a ''Flash Player Update" that is required to view the videos.

And clicking on that will get your computer compromised with a downloader trojan, that will allow the attacker to download any program they want. Including spyware, password grabbers, spam mail relaying, and more.

As usual, Safe Computing works. Unsolicited emails with "attractive" content are usually not good.

And if you have a web site, you might want to check for an 'index2.html' file. That would mean that your site was successfully attacked with a SQL injection attack, writing pages on you web server, and putting modified content in your web pages.

That's never good

LRN 2 TXT

The recent earthquake in LA showed that the phone network will probably get overloaded in any localized emergency.

One of the things that you want to do in emergency preparedness is to be able to contact you family. You establish a central meeting place, or a way to communicate with your family. Most people will automatically reach for their cell phones. And they'll probably get a busy signal, because all the circuits are busy.

Smart people will reach for their cell phone, but will send a text message to their family members or other contacts. Text messages, because they are transmitted differently, will get through when a cell phone call won't.

So, you may want to ensure all members of your family know to use text messaging during an emergency. We know that your older children probably know how to text message (and you've probably got the cell phone bills to prove it).

If you don't know, ask your children to teach you.

LRN 2 TXT.



(originally appeared on Digital Choke )