[BC] Russian spy software

[Sid Schweiger]

>>Here is some info about a new phishing scam...
Yesterday I got an Email, supposedly from Verizon, to download and install their "security suite." I thought nothing of it and did what I was told. Wow! It slowed the computer to a crawl and while troubleshooting I connected up a multiple port switch so I could use my Linux machine to see what all the new network activity was.
It was sending data to Russia!<<

As you can see by the date embedded in this link:

>>http://phishingscam.org/2008/11/02/russian-phishing-scam/<<

...this is nothing new, and it goes back even farther than November of last year.  Unfortunately social engineering succeeds in installing an awful lot of garbage.  Clicking on links in e-mails is a dangerous activity, and has been for quite a while.

If someone walked up to you on the street and handed you something for free, presumably your normal reaction would be "what's the scam?"  However, that same type of offer on the Internet or in e-mail seems to somehow coerce people into suspending their usual skepticism.

Before falling for such a scam again, always check the e-mail's headers and confirm that the links are what they say they are (right-click on the link, and copy the "target" into Notepad)...and if in doubt, DON'T fall for it.

Sid Schweiger
IT Manager, Entercom New England
20 Guest St / 3d Floor
Brighton MA  02135-2040