New computer virus hitting...

[ttjoon]

I received an email this morning from the CEO's office at my company.  This is a valid virus alert and apparently one that many people are falling for.

http://www.snopes.com/fraud/phishing/subpoena.asp

[MichaelF (FPIE)]

Thanks for the heads up.  If anybody is worried about falling for such things, I reccomend the following steps.

1.  Ensure you Anti-Virus and Firewall are up to date.  Windows Firewall and AV are terrible, I wouldn't count on them.  Many companies try and do many things, for example, Nortan is great an Virus detection and removal, however they also now include a fire wall feature.  Many Firewall programs also include Virus stuff.  I prefer to let a company do what they are good at, not something they dabble in.  For example I use Nortan for Viruses, but turn off the firewall features.  For a Firewall, I like Zone alert by Zone Alarm (actually I think they just got bought.)  It's a great firewall, and if somebody tries to "Phish" you with a website, it always warns me.

2.  Actually read the e-mails or websites carefully.  Many start out looking good, but towards the end fall apart.  Read the linked one here for example, the last two paragraphs are riddles with typos and spelling errors, a real supeona wouldn't have that.

3.  If in doubt do some research.  Call numbers, look some stuff up, most scams fall apart quickly.

[ttjoon]

I think it is very dangerous to a company like mine who employs about 20k world wide.  Once it gets in it can spread like wildfire. 

You are right though, most hoaxes do fall apart very fast if you really read the details.  This one however really does seem to be a legit email and that is why people are falling prey to it.

[MichaelF (FPIE)]

Well hopefully a company as large as yours should have proper security in place on their computers.  It's a fact of life that people are going to click or open things they should not, a business should have programs, firewalls, and quarantine procedures in place to at a minimum stop the spread, or hopefully stop the initial infection.

I'm not saying that yours doesn't or anything, just talking.

[ttjoon]

I'm not saying that yours doesn't or anything, just talking.

Hey, you never know, right?  Anything is possible....