[Mccoypottery-talk] Ebay Spoof

[McCoyPottery.com List Mom]

On Feb 17, 2005, at 2:33 PM, Kevin Reffitt wrote:

> By clicking on the link, you launch a "background trojan".  You don't 
> have to enter a thing in the form...that's not what they want.  You 
> now have a silent program running in the background, that records your 
> local keystrokes.  This information is continually sent to the remote 
> system, and they glean all kinds of sensitive information about you 
> from that.

Ok, this requires the following assumptions:

1.  End user is using Windows
2.  End user is using Outlook
3.  End user actually opened the message and then 'clicked' on the link 
in the message

Solutions:

1.  Don't click on the link in the message
2.  Don't use Outlook
3.  Don't use Windows

In any event if they were using web based email and simply looked at 
the message there are only two entities that know about this:

1. Your mail server
2. Your mail client

So simply looking at a message from a Web Based email system, say, 
PINE, Mail.App, or most other non-windoze based mail client is not 
going to signal a auto-execute.  It just cannot happen since no one but 
the mail server and the mail client knows about the request to view the 
message/header, etc.

However, if there is a link that goes to an outside source and 
downloads the trojon, or activates the trojan, assuming it was sent as 
an attachment with the message, then it can happen.

Ultimately, just delete anything you think is questionable, and don't 
click on the embedded links.   That or you could get a Mac :-)
>
> Your friend NEEDS to clean her system...NOW.  Everything she types is 
> being watched.
>
>
I really would not panic.  Just go to Start --> Run --> then type 
"msconfig" and click "Enter" (Return on your Mac keyboard).  Go to 
"StartUp items" and look at  "Running Processes."  If you see something 
you do not recognize, disable it, then do a Google for its name.   My 
guess is however given how cryptic everything is in the pc world, you 
will see strange names for items which are not going to make any sense 
unless you do this all the time and recognize known oddities.

So, I would suggest you visit lavasoftusa.com and get AdAware and run 
it regularly.  That along with Spybot are the two best tools I have 
seen out there for treating and preventing windoze based problems 
outside of completely ending dependancy on windoze... :-)



Regards,
The List Mom
McCoy Pottery Online
www.mccoypottery.com
listmom@mccoypottery.com
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