News Update
TSuccessful social engineering helps worm spread
Feb 23 2005 18:51
The FBI is warning users about a fraudulent email making the
rounds this week. The latest version of Email-Worm.Win32.Sober
arrives in a variety of letters in German and English targeted
into tricking users into opening the attachments.
Sober.k carries a complete set of tools, enabling it to spread
effectively. Texts are written in either English or German, with
the choice of language depending on the domain suffix. The worm
contains a number of different texts, ranging from a warning
about possible criminal proceedings from the FBI to a purported
patch from Microsoft.
In this case, the FBI letters upset a number of people, since
the letter seemed to accuse them of committing cyber crimes: “we
have logged your IP-address on more than 40 illegal Websites.
Important: Please answer our questions! The list of questions
are attached.”
While social engineering tactics have been used successfully by
virus writers for years, many users still get confused by new
versions. It is important to remember that today, no reputable
company, organization or government body will ask you to reveal
personal data or send important documents in unsolicited emails.
The rule of thumb is, if you didn't contact them, it is 99.99%
certain that they wouldn't choose these methods to contact you.
Therefore, do NOT click on an attachment, or follow a link from
an e-mail, unless you were expecting it: even if the source
looks innocent, it is most likely a threat.
Other Security News Articles
Gates on IE7 - No Phishing Allowed
Feb 19th 2005
Trojan attacks Microsoft's
anti-spyware
February 15, 2005
Something's Phishy
Feb 13th 2005
Spyware takes aim at Mozilla
browsers
February 9, 2005
Virus News: Bropia worm spreads via chat
Feb 4th
2005
Microsoft to Put
Patch Service to the Test
Jan 27th
2005
New worm defacing phpBB forum sites
Dec 27th
2004
Symantec Patches 'High Risk' Flaws
Dec 12, 2004
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