Tech It Like A Man! » Privacy

Conficker attacks April 1 2009

Bulletz — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 15:57:02 +0000

oidfj aoei

If you have not updated your computer by now, you should do it ASAP. Conficker is set to strike unsuspecting PCs tomorrow. You need to have your Windows updated with the Microsoft patch 958644, which you can obtain from Microsoft proper (make sure you are in Internet Explorer when you do this or it won’t work) . There is more that you can do to prevent and rid yourself of Conficker. Make sure to check out the following:

Prevent AutoRun attacks
Conficker removal tool

I am currently updating my system, as somehow I didn’t get all the security updates. I have been avoiding Service Pack 3 for a while, since it has killed so many systems. I am figuring that these updates were probably included with SP3 when I got the notification.

You have until midnight. I just found out about it this morning, myself. Make sure you get on it pronto.

Special thanks to Marisa for bringing this to my attention.

CiD issues

Bulletz — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 04:01:34 +0000

oidfj aoei

I had some crazy things going on over here on my computer. I kept getting this popup adware crud with prefix CiD. My husband had downloaded GalaPlayer to watch something, and it didn’t work. What it did do was open a hole for 4 different types of Trojan viruses and this crazy undetectable adware to get away with practical system murder. Thankfully, people across the net post things once they figure out how to fix them. I was glad to see this specific post about the CiD adware and how to get rid of it. After about 3 hours of waiting for my scanners to do their job, then running the extremely quick NoLop software, my computer is free and clear of 7 evil threats and the adware. What boggles my mind is that my 4 softwares didn’t even pick up on this at all when I ran the scans.

Elaborate PayPal Phishing Emails

Bulletz — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 13:37:52 +0000

oidfj aoei

The other day I received a really really good spoof email from “PayPal”. It was telling me that I had been limited on my PayPal due to suspicious charges. The letterhead of the email was on point. It was even from paypal@Security.com… Yes I typed it right.

I didn’t notice the large S at the beginning of Security, or I would not have clicked through. Other than that, there was nothing to indicate that this email was phishing for anything. The links onthe side were totally legitimate. They went to the actual PayPal pages they said they were going to:

So, I click through and VOILA! My browser (thanks Flock) alerts me that this might be a phishing scam so do not put my information in. I then noticed that the cloaking device they used to make sure I didn’t know it was a scam had dissolved, and I saw the actual web address on the page only after I clicked through.

So make sure to be careful when you get these emails. The phishers are getting really good at covering their tracks. If you do get an email like this, or one you are unsure of, forward it to spoof@paypal.com so they can look into it. They always get back to you within 24 hours.

Tags: paypal+phishing+scams, phishing, email+phishing