January 29, 2010
BLOG SPAM
When I moved the bruceb news page to WordPress and opened it up to comments, there was an unexpected side effect: blog spam.
There’s a space at the bottom of each post for comments. I don’t have a big audience and there are few comments from real people. You, my family and dear friends and clients and any of the rest of my fourteen readers, you are always welcome to add a comment. I promise to read all comments, answer questions, laugh at your jokes, blush if you say something nice, and take criticism […] continued
January 15, 2010
PREVIEW SPAM WITH EXCHANGE DEFENDER
Exchange Defender has a new tool for previewing quarantined messages.
Exchange Defender is the service used by many businesses to quarantine spam and scan incoming and outgoing mail for viruses before delivering mail to the company server. Exchange Defender sends a daily report listing all quarantined spam, as well as providing add-in software for Outlook and an online control panel for reviewing quarantined messages.
(Exchange Defender is well suited for any business running Small Business Server; almost all my clients with Microsoft Small Business Server rely on Exchange Defender. You need a partner to set it up for […] continued
September 30, 2009
THE GOOGLE BIZ KIT SCAM
Desperation leads to scams. Here’s one that turned up today after an investigation by my loyal staff. The “Google Biz Kit” has been around for a while, promising money for working at home. Other names turn up sometimes – “Google Money Market,” “Google Home Business Kit.”
It’s just a scam, just as sleazy as all the other scams over the years. I remember ads in comic books promising I could make money addressing envelopes. I still remember a close friend who was convinced he could make money and earn free trips by selling vitamins after he saw an ad […] continued
January 22, 2009
SECURITY UPDATE 2009
Several people have asked me about the most recent variations on old, old themes. Email warnings about dangerous messages, like the one on the right. Newspaper articles about the latest virus.
Nothing is new. The latest threats are the same as the old threats. Let’s go through the basics of PC security in 2009.
- Install updates from Microsoft promptly. (Look for the gold shield in the lower right corner. If you use Windows Live OneCare, keep the icon green.)
- Install antivirus software and keep it up to date.
- If you’re running Vista, you have adware/spyware protection.
[…] continued
November 13, 2008
SPAM HOST CUT OFF
The volume of junk e-mail sent worldwide plummeted on Tuesday after a company providing the servers for the spammers was taken offline.
The bad guys install malware on computers that they can control in vast networks, primarily to send spam for counterfeit pharmaceuticals and designer goods, fake security products and child pornography. Approximately 190 billion spam messages are sent every day from more than 1.5 million hijacked computers. The spammers set up servers to control the hijacked computers and to display web pages offering illicit goods for sale.
The spammers don’t buy their own servers. They buy server space […] continued
November 11, 2008
HOW SPAMMERS MAKE MONEY
Spammers can turn a profit even if they only get one response from every 12 million emails they send. When you see a ridiculous spam message and think, who in their right mind would respond to that?, the answer is, almost no one – but it only takes a handful of responses for the spammers to think their campaign was worthwhile.
Last year researchers from UC Berkeley and UC San Diego infiltrated a spam network and took over a portion of the network, diverting the spam sent out by over 75,000 hijacked computers (out of more than a million […] continued
October 7, 2008
INCREASE IN BANK PHISHING ATTACKS
There are reports of increased phishing attacks purporting to be messages from various banks. Be alert! The bad guys create email messages that appear to be from banks, with links to malicious web sites that attempt to install viruses or adware or fool you into entering account information. The messages and web sites are increasingly professional, to the point that they are indistinguishable from the real thing.
The current wave of bank activity might make it plausible that your bank would contact you by email, but I don’t want anyone fooled. In today’s environment, no bank or other company […] continued
August 10, 2008
FAKE FLASH UPDATE – SPYWARE ALERT!
There is a massive spam attack underway masquerading as messages from CNN.com. The first set of messages had links to the “Top 10 Headlines” and “Top 10 Videos”; now there are new variations presenting a “custom news alert.” Clicking on any link in the messages will bring up a dialog that says an incorrect version of Flash Player has been detected that needs to be updated to a newer edition.
You will be caught in an endless loop – if you click “Cancel” another box will immediately appear, over and over. The only way to get out is to […] continued
July 24, 2008
UPS SPAM
The latest outbreak of virus-laden spam purports to be a message from UPS about an undeliverable package. The attachment is a ZIP file with an executable program inside that does something evil – blows up a cruise boat or something.
These messages appear and morph and tomorrow this might be a message from FedEx or the IRS or anything else. Your first defense is your common sense: never, never, never open email attachments unless you know with 100% certainty that the attachment is something you expected and want to receive.
Never.
Many of my clients use Exchange Defender […] continued
May 14, 2008
EMAIL NO LONGER RELIABLE BUSINESS TOOL
An interesting problem has developed, and there’s no good answer in sight. Email is no longer a reliable business tool. We’re going to keep using it but there will be more occasions when I have no good answer to mail-related complaints.
Spam is the primary reason that things are falling apart. It’s at record high levels and I’ve seen predictions that this is the calm before the storm.
For a while we could deal with that at the Exchange Server – drop messages that are not addressed to valid recipients in the business, turn off non-delivery reports, rely […] continued