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Fake Microsoft Patch Triggers Virus Attack
boarder8925 writes "eWeek reports: 'Like day follows night, a bogus cumulative update with a malicious attachment has followed Microsoft's patch day. In what has become a monthly staple, virus writers are taking advantage of the heightened public interest around Microsoft's patching cycle to trick users into executing a malicious attachment. The latest social engineering trick arrives via e-mail with an attachment that purports to be a 'cumulative patch' for May 2005.'"
... at least that's what they tell us. But we all know that it actually was a cummulatice update, but they screwed it up.
Anonymous Coward
This is why when there's a security flaw in Firefox or the Mac people come out to say "thank gosh it was dealt with quickly, as usual."
The situation with microsoft has reached a certain critical mass where there is no public awareness of an objective security reality.
Here there be dragons. Beware.
Undoubtedly a dozen comments will say something like "If users would just follow a few simple rules..." What is the trusted source for those simple rules now that the situation is so out of hand?
Dark days indeed.
I wonder how slashdot posts stuff like this, which is very common thing, that has been done numerous times.
Social Engineering is getting to be an easier way for the script kiddes to get more victims, as more people put SP,2 which has the firewall enabled by default and so the usual attacks dont work.
OK, we get it. Don't run random attachments that people you don't know email to you. Why is this news? I get probably a hundred emails with viral attachments daily. Is Slashdot somehow suggesting that this is Microsoft's fault in some bizarre, convoluted way?
... that the best software in the world couldn't protect you from the stupidity of the guy in front of the monitor. Makes you wonder who is worse: Microsoft or their users?
Microsoft try and help users by providing easily accessible patches and they get blasted for it. I installed this patch yesterday and my machine works just fin^&*%^$%#%&^ [NO CARRIER SIGNAL]
Do not try to read the dupe, thats impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth
What truth?
There is no dupe
Now, I'm all for making public the attacks but I think we should start bagging out the actual attackers. Cmon, social engineering through an email? Sure it'll fool a few people, and a few people is all you need to bring down a network, but let's patronise these guys. They're fuckin' con men for pete's sake and lame conmen at that. The only people they're tricking is morons. I move for guys like this to be put down at every chance.
Stop glorifying criminals!
Cumulative patch? Now, that's a new term. Microsoft's ways are forcing us to get used to new terms in the computer field. Since this business of patching has become "business as usual" for M$, how about a new acronym for the procedure? I suggest cumpatch to stand for "cumulative patch".
with patches like this....a milyID=905b4d10-9cde-4d32-b576-c942d1375ceb&displa ylang=en
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?F
it is very hard to tell which ones are for real....
I for one, welcome our new hot grits... PROFIT!
Why? They're just doing what they've been taught. They've been taught that anyone can use a computer (that's what all the MS advertising says). They've been taught that anyone can use the internet (that's what all the AOL advertising says). They've been taught that if they don't click yes at dialog boxes, things don't work (A very similar security warning is seen two or three times when logging in to hotmail. So users learn they're not serious) How can you blame them for simply doing what they've been taught?
I am trolling
But if they weren't so stupid and actually stopped to think for five seconds they might think "Hang on, how does Microsoft know my email address?"
Just tested on Windows Server 2003... .shs, .pif, .url, and .shb files exhibit this behavior. I do not have microsoft access installed, so the .mam and .mad files show up as normal.
I looked a little more into it, and there is a NeverShowExt REG_SZ entry in the registry for each file type that does this. Here it is described in detail.
I would suggest searching through the registry for NeverShowExt and deleting the occurrences you find under HKCR. Be careful editing your registry, do it only if you know what you're doing, etc.
Your credit card information wants to be free.
people gullible to believe Microsoft's "Get the Facts" campaign are just as gullible to download fake patches.
w00t.
Perhaps if ISPs started actually billing people when they spewed out viruses and spam, that might have some effect. It wouldn't have to be much, a couple of bucks maybe, but the point is, I don't think anything else is going to get it through the average user's head.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
Not properly evaluating or understanding attachments that are sent via email is synonymous to not critically evaluating any information that's received... such as faithfully believing whatever happens to be published on the television evening news.
Personally I'm not sure if it's so much a computer training issue. A lot of these problems might be solved in one go, if only the education system could focus a bit more on training people to be critical and cautious of all information that they receive.
I'm not trying to imply that this is all the education system's fault, either. Society's just screwed up right now, and there are so many contradictory messages out that that completely undermine so much of what good education actually has to offer.