oregonnerd: differing views

Fake Bomb Alert=Attempt to Download Code

March 18, 2009 at 1:26 pm Leave a comment

There is a bomb alert going around that is actually spam with malicious code.  It uses IP geographical location (whois, presumably) in order to make it closer to the receiver’s  address.  The subject line is typically something like “Take Care” or “Are you and your loved ones safe?” ; in other words, there is no set subject line, which was more typical of these in the past.  The attack was first reported that I saw yesterday; now instead of merely Sophos (a security firm) others are also sounding the alarm.  [Lesson, often repeated in recent years on the Internet:  don’t click on links in generic messages or on messages from people you aren’t sure you know–for a real security measure, you should actually verify with said friend that they actually sent the message.  And remember that merely viewing something like a *.jpg can run malicious code on your computer.]  I first saw the notice on The Register, a publication out of the UK.

–Glenn

Entry filed under: browsers, computers/tech, current news, internet, internet security.