What may be fooling some people is that these emails appear to come from your colleagues, friends or family members, as they have had their own computers infected by the malware (which then sent it on to you).

However, the link doesn’t really go to a PDF file or a WMV movie, but to a SCR executable file instead containing malicious code. When the code is run on your computer it tries to turn off your security software, and attempts to send one of the above messages to contacts in your address book – rather in the style of the old-school email-aware viruses we often saw in the early 2000s which would use the lure of pictures of Anna Kournikova or a love letter. Furthermore, the worm can also spread via network shares.

The intention of the attack appears to be to steal information. The malware downloads components and other tools which extract passwords from browsers (Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer, Opera), various email clients, and other applications. Clearly sensitive information which you don’t want falling into the wrong hands.

According to media reports, the virus has been encountered in large firms including Google, Coca Cola, NASA and Comcast.

This is something of a return to the malware attacks of yesteryear – where hackers didn’t care whose computers they hit, they just wanted to infect as many as possible. Worms like this don’t discriminate, deciding their next victim purely by scooping up a list of its next targets from the user’s email address book.

Which also means that if you’re in a lot of people’s address books, you might receive a fair amount of malware. For instance, ABC/Disney employee Sam Champion, who is the weatherman on “Good Morning America” tweeted that the virus was filling up his email account.

What has brought things more up-to-date is that scammers have exploited the interest in the “Here you have” virus to make themselves a quick buck, with, for instance, newly uploaded videos on YouTube. When you stumble across it in search engine results, you imagine it’s going to tell you something about the “Here you have” virus. After all, it’s title is “Here You Have Virus Email — New Computer virus”.

But in fact, it’s something different. Once the video begins to play it quickly puts up a message saying: Due to copyright reasons, i can not display this video on YouTube. To watch this video click in the link at description.

Now, any YouTube video which tells you you have to go somewhere else to watch the video is trying to pull a fast one – and you should always be suspicious. And in this case, if you do click on the link you visit a blog page which pops up a revenue-generating survey scam.

As always, ensure that your anti-virus software is kept properly up-to-date and don’t go clicking on suspicious links – even if they do appear to have been sent to you by a friend.

Source: http://www.securitypark.co.uk/security_article265284.html

“Beware that surprise e-card,” wrote JR Smith, CEO of AVG in a blog post. “It could contain a whole load of heartache in the form of a hard drive hack designed to steal your identity.”

Cyberscammers are sending e-cards with cute Shih tzu puppies, love notes reading “Deeply in love with you” and little red hearts to lure users to download a computer virus if they click on the links in the message.

To protect your computer, AVG and McAfee suggest that you do not open e-cards sent to you from people you don’t know, or even e-mail the sender asking if they sent you an e-card. Do not open an e-mail with generic things in the subject line and make sure your security software is updated.

It is safer to copy and paste a URL from an e-mail into the browser than to click a link directly. E-card companies do not send cards as attachments. If you receive a card attachment, AVG suggests you delete the e-mail immediately.

Viruses from these e-mails, if clicked, may be installed without the user’s knowledge.

If you suspect e-card an e-card contains a virus, you can file a complaint with the Internet Crime Complaint Center.

Source: WCVB

If you have been infected with a virus, call 616-891-5911 to get your issue solved immediately!