Likely, you are not aware of this. Neither might your 'friend'. What you did, most truely, I take it, was to inform us all of something, that could pose a potential threat onto us all. And, basically, you meant this well. Yet you dropped right into a pitfall. Many of us, who have been in the game for a while, will have either been there ourselves, or seen someone dropping in.
Did you know, this kind of 'warning emails', were among the oldest of its kind? Maybe even THE oldest. A kind of Emails, that we classify as SPAM. Not the ADVERTISING kind of SPAM, that you usually find your inbox overflowing with. Yet still SPAM, in the sense of being stuff that noone asked for, and that urge the recipient to take a given action, or withstand from another. And we have seen them! Several of them... You might be first-time in touch with the stuff. Or, others on the list might. So, let me take this opportunity to let you know, I do believe you only had good intentions here. Yet, let me tell you, and the rest of the list members, a couple of things, found in your particular Email, that are quite typical for this kind of SPAM. First, the mail warns you of a potential thread. This time, it was a 'virus', that apparently should have been let loose. Other stuff we have seen, is the kind that tells you, a certain update on your mail server, banking website, Paypal account, or internet providers homepage - well, it apparently is that your account will be closed down, if you don't take a given action, within a very short time. In this case, though, since it was a VIRUS in question, the underlaying threat is, that you should rather abstain from using your computer at all. Or, as it was put 'you would loose all your information'. Second, the message gave quite specific information on exactly when the virus did appear, and WHO it would come from. OK, no real name, yet some kind of 'traceable' stuff. If this really was the case, most truely things would be handled quite quickly from things like The Big AntiVirus Manufacturers. Here, they actually did have all the necessary info needed, so as to build an vaccination for your system. And this takes us directly into the third questionable part of the message. Thirdly, the message states that there is no help around. That this is the REAL breakdown of your system, since none of the vendors for AntiVirus know a way around it. Again, if this was the case, most truely you would not even be able to have received the very message. Such a VIRUS, would have installed, and according to the message, deleted all information, on your internet providers server, long before you ever had a chance to connect and download. Fourthly, did you notice the lack of ONE important information? It did refer to the fact that Microsoft, and I do believe another source was mentioned as well. It did say, that the information in the message, was taken from these sources. But, did it ever give you any reference thereof? Did you see the least dust-grain of a link in the message, pointing you to any kind of further details? Fifthly, Where was it all taken from? A 'friend' who send it to you. Well, OK, you did not want to expose your friends name and mail address. Noone will hold that against you. Yet, the fact that it was coming from some private person, with no further authorizng reference, might likely make most 'oldtimers' put on all red lights. If you really wanted to make people aware of some REAL threat, the least you should look out for, is some kind of water-proof - and trackable - source for your information. Lastly - and this is the most typical part of it, or just about so - is the fact, that you are asked to 'spread the info to all your friends'. Did you know, that stuff like this, was used some years ago, to breakdown the whole internet system in some European countries? Of course, if this mail was spread to a hundred people, who in turn spread it to ten of their friends, who again did have ten friends, who also had ten friends... You get the figure of it all? And Emails can be spread quickly. In less than a day, you will litterally have several millions of this running around. Only reason why it does not reproduce itself that extensively now aday, is the fact that this kind of SPAM has long since outplayed its roll. Too many people out there, are aware of the above listed facts, and simply delete the message, and if this is not your real close friend, might consider blocking their future mails, from showing up in your inbox. The technique here used, is rather old. Now aday, the more sofisticated versions, will install in the background, when you open the initial message, and then spread itself via your address book. Several cases have taken place of this kind. Fortunately, a good AntiVirus, and a recommended AntiSpyware software, running on your system, will quite effectively block the automatic versions of this stuff. So the version you did provide, is like using a horse-and-cheriot in the middle of the highway. Apparently, the person originally initializing this kind of message, was not smart enough to create an automated version. Or, could it be, that he wanted to make you scared, or even enroll you in his program; thereby make you a shareholder in the case it is ever traced from any authorities? BE AWARE OF THIS KIND OF STUFF! It is just as much SPAM as the one which calls for you to go and buy a real product, the ones that ask for your immediate action, or the ones that demand you give out your personal and sensitive information - and EXACTLY as ILLEGAL. And, just in this very token, NEVER act upon - or give away your personal and sensitive information - to ANYONE, asking this in an Email. That is, unless you know the person face to face, and trust him fully. Or, in the case when you have a particular apointment of sending the information via Email. Your bank, your internet provider - even Microsoft, or your AntiVirus vendor - they all have well-established channels for accepting your personal information or action. And, what's more, they typically have far more sofisticated ways of communicating to you, and the rest of their customers, the need for being aware. Typically, mails from your Paypal account, or your local bank, would hold your full name, or other ways for you to feel sure you are the intended receiver of the mail. I do believe, if this kind of threat REALLY had been let out, first of all, the BIG guys at Microsoft, Norton, AVG, SuperAntiSpyware - well you name them all - would be smart enough to block this from happening. Very likely, it has already been cared for. And really, every single second you will see several handfuls of new threats on the net. That is, just the time it took you to read this very message, many new threats have been born. Good thing is, most of them tend to use 'old' techniques. This enables the big vendors to simply scan for known characteristics of the traffic on your system; and right away recognize the threat. The kind of message here in question, though, is of the kind no ANTI-software can detect. Here only human awareness will be he real vaccination. Hopefully, this message will have edducated the list members, so as to be on the alert. Whenever a message holds the characteristics listed in this mail, DO FORGET ALL ABOUT THE MAIL, and its sender. NEVER act upon a message that encourage you to spread the info to all your friends. No matter if it is a threatening message, or as I have seen a few, a message that holds some kind of funny story, or funny 'game'. If you want to spread some of it, limit it to people who you may not want to stay in contact with - they might just happen to be 'oldtimers', and recognize the stuff. Smile! Well, once again, I do take it, you only had the best intentions. All the more reason for making you aware, the actual REAL threat of this message, is the fact that if all who receives it, really would act accordingly, the internet would have broke down. And, after all, maybe that was the intenstion of the originator of the whole thing! ----- Original Message ----- From: bbs To: GW Micro Product Discussion Listserv Sent: Wednesday, October 06, 2010 5:44 AM Subject: New Potential Virus Hey everyone. This was sent to me by a friend of mine. It is about a potential virus so when you check your inboxes and see what she's talking about, be careful. Shawn Please Be Extremely Careful Especially if using internet mail such as Yahoo, Hot mail, AOL and so on. This information arrived this morning direct from both Microsoft and Norton. Please send it to everybody you know who has access to the Internet. You may receive an apparently harmless email with a Power Point presentation 'Life is Beautiful ' If you receive it DO NOT OPEN THE FILE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES , and delete it immediately. If you open this file, a message will appear on your screen saying: 'it is too late now; your life is no longer beautiful... .' Subsequently you will LOSE EVERYTHING IN YOUR PC and the person who sent it to you will gain access to your name, e-mail and password. This is a new virus which started to circulate on Tuesday afternoon. AOL has already confirmed the severity and the anti virus software's are not capable of destroying it... The virus has been created by a hacker who calls himself 'life owner' PLEASE SEND A COPY OF THIS EMAIL TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS and ask them to PASS IT ON IMMEDIATELY If you reply to this message it will be delivered to the original sender only. If your reply would benefit others on the list and your message is related to GW Micro, then please consider sending your message to [email protected] so the entire list will receive it. GW-Info messages are archived at http://www.gwmicro.com/gwinfo. You can manage your list subscription at http://www.gwmicro.com/listserv.
