Articles

FAKE Microsoft email – Virus- Oct 2008

Watch out for the FAKE Microsoft email

It is a virus - DO NOT open it, DO NOT FOLLOW the directions. Just DELETE the email and go on with your day.

The email was distributed in October, we received it on 10/12/08.

From: Microsoft Corp.
Subject: Security Update for OS Microsoft Windows
Signature: Steve Lipner, Director of Security Assurance

Microsoft does not send out mail like this. This is FAKE, this is a VIRUS.

Remember the rules –

1. Don’t open mail from senders you don’t know, with subject lines that don’t make sense, or random junk mail.

2. Don’t click on pop-ups when you’re browsing the net. If you click the X to close, that’s usually ok, but DO NOT be tempted to open up windows promoting products, software, contests, etc.

This week we are rescuing users who were victims of the temptation and their machines were compromised.

Story #1: Laptop

The user was on the internet and a pop up occurred. The user can’t actually remember what it was promoting. The user must have clicked something and all of a sudden “stuff started happening.”

What happened? Well the pop-up tempts you to click. This pop-up then hijacks your computer. In this case, it took over the machine. The user tried to “fix it” and the situation became worse with each step. The user couldn’t get to My Docs, Start, no Icons, nothing was accessible.

The laptop arrived for an exam. We detected and removed 1,152 viruses. Big Dog IT will be adding more security software to this user’s laptop. We have also reminded the user and others in this group the rules: DO NOT click on pop-ups and DO NOT open emails from suspicious or unknown users.

Story #2: Desktop at Work

The user here was online or checking email (the user can’t recall). We think email tempted the user to update something. The user clicked and all of a sudden the user “couldn’t do things.” Because this user is connected to Big Dog IT via remote access we could see that the virus took over the search field on the user’s browser. This might be for capturing information about search habits or trying to obtain credit card information. This machine has Trend Micro installed so the virus didn’t start growing as in the case of the laptop.

This computer can’t be used right now because it’s compromised. Desktop is on its way in to Big Dog IT for an exam.

Moral: Be safe, be smart. Every day hackers find new ways to get your machine.

Call Big Dog IT at 425-746-2213 (pst) if you need help with Tech support, Security software, Web support, and Data backup.

support@bigdogit.com