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World Cup Email Offer Contains Sober Worm
Chris Richardson
Contributing Writer
2005-05-05
 Insider Reports RSS Feed
How many of you are troubled by spyware? According to a Webroot study, 88 percent of home computers are infected with different types of spyware. This percentage, which is undoubtedly higher than computers infected with viruses, indicates that spyware remains one of, if not the biggest threat to home computer users.
 | | Beware Of World Cup Emails |  |
While there are preventive measures, the ability to catch spyware before it installs itself still seems to be most lacking.
This means it's up to the user to remain vigilant and use utilities that can protect against spyware like Mozilla's Firefox browser. Since I've been using Firefox, my home computer has been primarily spyware-free. Of course, there are a number of tools that can help users rid themselves of these pests like Microsoft's AntiSpyware solution or Lavasoft's Ad-Aware program.
In our other reports, apparently email scammers are using tickets to the upcoming 2006 World Cup to trick people into installing the Sober worm virus. It's quite apparent that every major event, sporting, political, or otherwise will have some email scam connected to it. Again, there are a number of tools to help in prevention and removal. Stay informed.
Enjoy the issue.
Chris Richardson and the SecurityProNews team
Your Computer Has Spyware
David Utter | Staff Writer
In the findings of one software company, 88% of all consumer PCs it surveyed have spyware residing somewhere on their drives.
Anti-spyware maker Webroot released its State of Spyware report, and even though there was a small decrease in infected machines, the presence of spyware persists in the vast majority of machines.
An average of 25 instances of items like adware, system monitors, Trojan programs, and tracking cookies were found on each machine.
The financial rewards offered by the creation of adware, as noted in a suit filed by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer against Intermix Media of Los Angeles, will keep people and companies creating it at a brisk pace.
A potential market of $2 billion USD results from pop-up ads, redirected web searches, browser hijacks, and straightforward attacking against hosts files and DNS servers. And that number will likely increase.
While states and the federal government consider long-overdue legislation to combat spyware makers, users can take measures to protect themselves. In addition to Webroot's anti-spyware software, tools from companies like Microsoft and LavaSoft can help.
World Cup Offer Kicks Users In The E-mail
David Utter | Staff Writer
The Sober worm continues to clog up servers and cause problems for users around the globe.
A fake FIFA offer for World Cup tickets distributed by e-mail and containing the Sober worm has propagated to several dozen countries.
The fake message attempts to entice users to launch an attachment to find out more information on obtaining World Cup 2006 tickets.
But once a user falls for the trick, the worm gets unleashed.
The soccer-oriented message has primarily appeared in German. Another version of the message in English claims the user has an e-mail problem that only can be addressed by launching the infected attachment.
Sober's primary nuisance effect works similar to past mass-mailing worms, where it tries to send itself to every entry in a user's address book.
Despite the continued disappointment where promises of free stuff turn out to be false, users still seem to think the next offer will be the legitimate one. For system administrators, that outlook leads to a lot of frustration.
As always, users should keep their antivirus software up to date. If you receive an attachment in an e-mail and you aren't expecting one, the safest course of action would be to delete it outright.
Australian Workers May Get Privacy Boost
David Utter | Staff Writer
A bill introduced in New South Wales would ban employers from snooping into employee e-mail messages without prior warning.
The story will seem astonishing to American businesses, who have made the relentless tracking and prying of employee e-mail and other Internet communication a de facto workplace condition.
But a new act called the Workplace Surveillance Bill would limit Australian concerns to snooping only when they have informed employees such oversight could take place.
"We don't tolerate employers unlawfully placing cameras in change rooms and toilets. Likewise, we should not tolerate unscrupulous employers snooping into the private e-mails of workers," said the state's Attorney General, Bob Debus.
While organizations like the Australian Workers Union see this as a praiseworthy measure, American workers will likely yawn instead.
Many companies in the US make it clear in employee handbooks and computer login messages that their activities can and will be monitored. The practice has become so widespread that it is probably ingrained into most office workers.
Some businesses go farther than delving into Internet communications, by adding video cameras to offices that are trained on the workers rather than entryways or parking lots.
Phone calls get recorded routinely, with computer telephony integration making it easy to retain and sift through thousands of calls.
About the Author:
Chris Richardson is a search engine writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest search news.
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