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Tech: Warning of dangerous mail
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Subject: RE: Tech: Warning of dangerous mail From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 04 Jun 08 - 09:11 AM "Geoff the Duck" Communication problem. I meant that you can run all sorts of WIndows utilities under WINE - not that anyone should attempt to RUN a trojan or virus exe UNDER WINE... I don't know, but suspect that WINE _might_ be installed on the Live Disk, but that any particular sector exmanining or other 'normal Windows forensic utility' may not... |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Warning of dangerous mail From: treewind Date: 04 Jun 08 - 05:32 AM "I would expect that if I ran it under LINUX, as it runs in a browser, it would still connect to the site containing the trojan or virus, and try to download it." Yep, that's exactly what happens. I tried it once. Firefox came up with a box saying that "setup.exe" (or simialr) was a file of type application/msdos-windows and what did I want to do with it? Until you persuade the application to run, you're quite safe. Of course you can't run a .exe on Linux anyway. Under WINE - it would probably crash WINE or provoke an error message as soon as it started trying to to do illegal things that bypassed the Windows API, which being malware it's quite likely to try. Anahata |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Warning of dangerous mail From: pavane Date: 04 Jun 08 - 05:17 AM I would expect that if I ran it under LINUX, as it runs in a browser, it would still connect to the site containing the trojan or virus, and try to download it. Can we ASSUME that it is only malicious on WINDOWS, or could it be a program which can run on other platforms (might it even choose which version to download?) |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Warning of dangerous mail From: Geoff the Duck Date: 04 Jun 08 - 04:22 AM Foulestroupe - my point was that Pavane does not want to run the dodgy file, he just wants to examine it to find what damage it is designed to do. My reasonong is that it could possibly be accessed but quarantined by a non-windows operating system. Another thought is that there are a number of windows programmes which create either a "sandbox" within windows, or a "Virtual Machine" which you can install an independently running copy of windows which only interacts with a virtual, software only, computer, not your real one. If I understand correctly, these are also supposed to prevent a virus rom havng any access to your Real windows system. Quack! GtD. |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Warning of dangerous mail From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 04 Jun 08 - 01:17 AM "not run a programme designed for Windows" WINE is a Windows emulator under Linux. However whether it could run serious Win utilities that examine sectors, etc may be debatable. Also, ususally one installs Win programs onto a working Linux system, and I doubt such utilities would be installed in a Live Disk Linix CD, although you could always build such an animal. Something like DSL would be a good starting point. |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Warning of dangerous mail From: Geoff the Duck Date: 03 Jun 08 - 08:54 AM I daresay one way to examine the file might be to use a non-windows system. The Live Disc Linux ditributions would not run a programme designed for Windows. I found that SUSE Linux was pretty good at recognising Windows formatted partitions and reading the files contained there. Quack! GtD. |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Warning of dangerous mail From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 02 Jun 08 - 11:49 PM Ah - I meant "A hot cup of tea, a Bex, and a good lie down"... but "Different Strokes for Different Folks" I suppose... :-) |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Warning of dangerous mail From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 02 Jun 08 - 11:45 PM It's all right John, you just need a hot cup of tea, some Sex, and a good lie down.... |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Warning of dangerous mail From: JohnInKansas Date: 02 Jun 08 - 11:26 PM Windows can do much the same thing without a separate ^$%#$@! John |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Warning of dangerous mail From: JohnInKansas Date: 02 Jun 08 - 11:23 PM Foolestroupe - At a place where I once worked, I wrote the combination for the file cabinet next to my desk and stuck it on the bottom of the pull-out "tray" (above the drawers) on my desk. Before I left, I carefully informed the boss that the combination was there, and even showed it to him. (The file had nothing "sensitive" in it, but since it had a combination lock you had to keep track of the combination just in case someone spun the knob.) About 6 months after I left, I got a call asking for the combination. He'd remembered where it was written, but couldn't read it - because I'd written it as a "mirror image" so that when I stuck an inspection mirror under the edge of the tray it "read right" in the mirror. He had a PhD in physics, but must have skipped the class on doppelgangers and alternate universes, I suppose. (And never heard about Leonardo, who wrote all his stuff that way.) xxxxxx If someone really has a lot of passwords to keep track of, one of the "password management" programs might be worthwhile. When you log in to a new site and create a password, the program encrypts and remembers it, and the next time you go to the same site it recalls the password and enters it for you. Several of the programs can generate "random passwords" for you, but eliminate the need for you to remember what they are (as long as the program works). Windows can do much the same thing without a separate password, but anyone with access to your computer, who can log on as you, could "let Windows supply the passwords" that it remembers to access your stuff. The add-on programs generally require you to enter your "generic password" for the program, before posting the password for sites you want to access, giving a little more protection against having John |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Warning of dangerous mail From: GUEST,leeneia Date: 02 Jun 08 - 11:09 PM 1. I would lose the paper. 2. We were burglarized once. What if it happened again and thieves found the paper? I prefer my clue method. |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Warning of dangerous mail From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 02 Jun 08 - 09:04 PM "write down the passwords on paper" Well, when you stick the passwords on the piece of sticky tag on the side of the monitor... I'm not making that up you know - I used to work Tech Support... |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Warning of dangerous mail From: michaelr Date: 02 Jun 08 - 08:47 PM You could just write down the passwords on paper... you know, with one of those, what were they called... pens! Let `em try to hack that. Cheers, Michael |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Warning of dangerous mail From: GUEST,leeneia Date: 02 Jun 08 - 09:14 AM 'Use a mixture of graphics, digits, cyrillic, coptic, ogum script and aramaic and burn your hard drive...' Thanks for the chuckle, glueman. (I didn't know you could type ogum on a computer. Does it work for both Mac and Windows?) We are on the horns of a dilemma here. The more complicated the password gets, the higher is the probability that we need to make a record of it. Then the risk enters that someone will find the record. My method is this: 1. I keep a word document that contains CLUES to the passwords, not the actual passwords. 2. I don't keep my bank, etc, on the favorites list. And after I consult a financial site, I delete my entire browsing history. |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Warning of dangerous mail From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 02 Jun 08 - 08:53 AM Actually, in the mailbox I received a 'scratch-it' ticket. Having exposed a 'prize' - it told me to sned an SMS. In return I would receive an SMS telling how I can claim my prize... Not that stupid - we've had the 'pay $1,000 in SMS fees ($5 an SMS charged!) to win this lottery for a $1,000 set of StarTrek DVDs' ads on TV for years. |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Warning of dangerous mail From: pavane Date: 02 Jun 08 - 05:36 AM I think I know a little about computers, having been in the business since 1970, but I still like to ask the experts in specific areas! Particularly internet security. |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Warning of dangerous mail From: George Papavgeris Date: 02 Jun 08 - 02:39 AM Yes, there are ways, pavane. But unless you are computer savvy, you'd be just as likely to put a foot - or a finger - wrong. If you don't feel confident that you know enough to keep out of danger, then just delete the blessed thing. |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Warning of dangerous mail From: pavane Date: 02 Jun 08 - 01:57 AM The message content shows as 336kb, but if I try to save, or save as text, it only shows as 1kb, with a line asking to allow blocked content. Is there any way I can see inside it, to find the URL it is trying to access, without opening it? Surely we must be able to find the site to which it wants to connect? |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Warning of dangerous mail From: pavane Date: 02 Jun 08 - 01:52 AM Looks like this is spreading fast. I already received another one with different text but the same request to allow blocked content "I've discovered an exciting way to make moolah from the comfort of YOUR living room... while creating multiple streams of income... using Google and other search engines! This isn't something you see every day." This is a business that can help you earn $3k to $9k a month! |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Warning of dangerous mail From: Escapee Date: 30 May 08 - 08:35 PM Aint progress a grand thing? |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Warning of dangerous mail From: JohnInKansas Date: 30 May 08 - 04:20 PM While .exe files are then most obvious "executable" filetype, there are a whole lot of others. .bat, .com, .dll, .js, .jsx, etc. A single pixel in a .jpg file contains enough "bits" to be an executable viral segment that can infect your computer if you view the file. Many email programs block .jpg attachements by default, and require you to override the block to see them. Office programs that contain macros can execute viral infections. The new formats for Office 2007 should always include an "m" in the four letter file extension in order for a macro to be included, but there's little confirmation that this is a sure-fire way of knowing. (The default "new" Word document is a .docx, while a document that uses any macros should be a .docm. Similarly for .xlsx/.xlsm etc.) Any file can have more than one "file extension." If you don't set up to always view all of them, what looks like "granny.jpg" could actually be "granny.jpg.exe". John |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Warning of dangerous mail From: glueman Date: 30 May 08 - 04:15 PM Use a mixture of graphics, digits, cyrillic, coptic, ogum script and aramaic and burn your hard drive in a fire of nutty slack and potato peelings every six months at the most. Even then Kenyan gentlemen will bug you for a quick sub while their plain crash victim's oil reserve comes on line. Or don't watch porn with limbless fiddlers abusing gerbils in lingerie and kitten heels. |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Warning of dangerous mail From: JohnInKansas Date: 30 May 08 - 04:00 PM Poppa - And don't use the same mother's maiden name for two accounts. Never use the same password on two accounts. Passwords: Some sites limit the number of characters you can use in a password. If they allow five or fewer characters, you should always try to include a mix of numbers, letters, (and characters like #!(_) if the site will let you). Even substituting "obvious" number/letter changes - e.g. like "R1d3rs0fTh3Purpl3Sage" - multiplies the number of combinations that a "cracker" has to run through to discover a password by at least 10! = 3,628,800 (x the [number of chars]! for the password length), which takes a few more seconds to break your password. You should always keep a record of your passwords and challenge/response questions/answers, but if you keep the record in a "plain text" document on your computer, anyone who gets into your computer can find and read it. a. A marginally safer record would consist of all your passwords etc pasted into a graphics program and stored only as .jpg/.gif/.psd "images." OCR readers can break this, but they're significantly more difficult to "automate" so only a very few cases of crackers "reading graphics" have been seen. b. All recent Windows OS versions let you put a password on an individual file or folder. This protection is considered "very strong" and keeps your passwords quite safe, but password protected files can be "brittle" in some cases, so that even you may not be able to access a "backup" of a password protected file, and almost never will be able to read anything "recovered" if a drive goes bad. c. There are a number of good "password manager" (and some less good) programs that can keep track of all your passwords, safely and strongly encrypted, and enter them automatically when needed. These probably are justified only for people who have a wh0l3l0t0fpa55word5 they need to keep track of. John |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Warning of dangerous mail From: PoppaGator Date: 30 May 08 - 02:59 PM An <.exe> file is an executable, that is, a program file. Opening an unknown program on your computer is asking for trouble. I opened a piece of spam earlier today, and took a chance by clicking the "unsubscribe" button. Sometimes you actually do get unsibscribed, but other times it's a scam to further distribute your email address so that you get even more spam. If I can add Email Rule #4 to Joe's three, it's be this: Never email anyone (except your own bank or another trusted source) your account number, mother's maiden name, or any password. |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Warning of dangerous mail From: Def Shepard Date: 30 May 08 - 02:52 PM I have but one rule. If I don't recognise the sender, the e-mail goes into the rubbish bin and deleted, unread. |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Warning of dangerous mail From: Escapee Date: 30 May 08 - 02:42 PM Whats a *.exe file, Joe? |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Warning of dangerous mail From: Joe Offer Date: 30 May 08 - 01:43 PM
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Subject: RE: Tech: Warning of dangerous mail From: Grab Date: 30 May 08 - 10:51 AM What if I told you that I'm making thousands of dollars each week and I'm not paying a dime for advertising ? What if I told you I was extracting hundreds of dollars from suckers' bank accounts...? If you get junk mail, don't click on anything, don't reply to it, don't do anything except delete it. Anyone who does anything different gets what they deserve. Graham. |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Warning of dangerous mail From: treewind Date: 30 May 08 - 10:11 AM My approach with those and with bank phishing emails recently (if they manage to get through my spam filter) has been to find the ISP where their web pages are hosted, and forward a copy of the email to the ISP's "abuse@" email address. Sometimes I get an email back to acknowledge it, and once they actually told me they'd suspended the domain. It got to be worth a try. Anahata |
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Subject: Tech: Warning of dangerous mail From: pavane Date: 30 May 08 - 08:52 AM Just received the following mail DO NOT FOLLOW THE INSTUCTIONS if you get it (and certainly not the unsubscribe one.) I don't know what harm it actually does, but the attachment tells you "To view FULL DETAILS please click on Information Bar and Allow Blocked Content in your browser. Thank you" If you do that, it could download ANYTHING. "As incredible as it may sound you're about to discover a system how you can drive 1000s of potential customers to any website or affiliate website at $0 cost to you!What if I told you that I'm making thousands of dollars each week and I'm not paying a dime for advertising ? Google, Yahoo, MSN and others are sending me hundreds of new customers every week - at $0 cost! Make Money On Auto-Pilot While You're Sleeping Or Even On Vacation? STOP Everything You Are Doing and Read This Now! This works for any product, website or affiliate website! FOR FULL DETAILS PLEASE READ THE ATTACHED .HTML FILE" |
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