Tag: security

More bogus electronic greeting cards in my mailboxes, but luckily Hotmail and Outlook catch most if not all of the offending mail… supposedly from “a friend.” 

Some friend. I’ve never heard of the sender.

My ISP catches many bogus mails as well in their own spam filter before it every touches my Outlook In box.

According to the Wikipedia wiki on Email spam, most spammers get e-mail addresses of their victims through the purchase of direct marketing email address databases and lists, from newsgroups, company staff directories, though the use of spambots, and through the WHOIS listing available through most domain name registrars (which is where I believe most get my email addresses).

To combat spammers from getting my regular email addresses, I use a separate, unique email address for the technical contact listing on my personal Internet domains and – and the majority of spam targets those addresses.

I also route email from my personal Internet web addresses to Hotmail, using the MSN postmaster to block most if not all spam and attack mails.

For more, see my previous post on spam and what to do about it here… which last year would have weighed more than 750 pounds if converted into regular snail mail junk mail. (See the post for more on the weight of spam. 😉 

More info:

• Stopping spam with the Junk E-mail Filter in Microsoft Office Outlook 2003
• Microsoft home magazine article on “spam proofing your in-box”
• Bill Gates’ 1998 column on spam
• More in the Wikipedia on E-mail spam
• For more on how vendors and governments are fighting spam, check out eWEEK’s Special Report on Canning Spam.
• For more on stopping unwanted printed junk mail, visit the The Direct Marketing Association Consumer Assistance site and The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.

Tags: spam, antispyware, security.

In his post on Not-So-Friendly Greeting Cards, Brian Krebs of the Washington Post calls out the rise of fake online greeting cards that can install keystroke loggers on to your computer, rather than delivering what you thought to be an innocent e-card from a long lost aunt.

“You might want to think twice before opening that e-greeting card sent to you via e-mail. Cyber crooks have recently been blasting out millions of fake online greeting cards in the hope that recipients will click on the included links and infect their computers with password-stealing viruses.

“Previous e-greeting card scams harbored their viral payload in an infected e-mail attachment, but fraudsters now are simply embedding links in the fake card messages. Anyone who clicks on such a link without the benefit of the most recent security updates for their Web browser is likely to have their PC silently whacked with an invasive keystroke-logging program.

“… It is sad that the state of e-mail security has come to this, but Microsoft Windows users would be well-advised to simply delete any e-greeting cards that land in their inboxes.”

For more info, see the Wiki link on the Storm Worm, and here on Symantec’s site.

Also, here’s the link if the embedded links above don’t work: http://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2007/07/notsofriendly_greeting_cards_1.html

And see my past note on how there’s no immunity from security vulnerabilities.

More info:

• Visit http://www.staysafeonline.info.
  
• To find out more about spyware – what it is, ways your computer can become infected, and what you can do to prevent it – watch this video on protecting your computer.
  
• If you’re wondering how Windows Defender compares with other Microsoft antispyware and antivirus technologies, check out this product comparison chart.
  
• Windows Live Safety Center – A Web service designed to help ensure the health of your computer with free scanning tools that help you get rid of unwanted software.
  
• Malicious Software Removal Tool – A security tool that checks your computer for specific viruses and other malicious software and helps remove any infection found. This tool alone has run more than 2 billion executions.
  
• Sign up for our security newsletter and receive monthly advice
  
• Get more online safety tips

Tags: Microsoft, security, antivirus, antispyware, Windows Defender.