Dominic said:
I asked this same question on the help_and_support site and received
an answer that said Microsoft does not care about bogus emails
disguised as official Microsoft Updates.
Several times recently I got bogus emails that advise me to download
sp2 or some other recent Microsoft product. These emails look very
much like official Microsoft stuff, but upon closer study, they are
simply fraudulent and probably contain adware and spyware. My
question again is "Does anyone at Microsoft care about this?"
Frankly I find it hard to believe they don't! Other companies like
ebay and paypal take such things very seriously and I know this
firsthand.
Please find me a Microsoft email where I can send this stuff. I
refuse to believe they don't give a rip.
There's no need to report something that the rest of the world has
been aware of for at least the past 18 months.
What you're apparently receiving is the output of a computer
infected by one of several widely publicized, wide-spread, mass
emailing worms. The virus' authors have deliberately spoofed the
Microsoft information in the hopes of garnering more victims. This
sort of email has been very common for the last year or more. The most
widely-known are:
W32.Swen.A_mm
http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/[email protected]
W32.Dumaru_mm
http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/[email protected]
W32.Gibe_mm
http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/[email protected]
Trojan.Xombe
http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/trojan.xombe.html
Microsoft never has, does not currently, and very probably never
will email unsolicited security patches. At the most, if, and only
if, you subscribe to their security notification newsletter, they will
send you an email informing you that a new patch is available for
downloading.
Microsoft Policies on Software Distribution
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/?url=/technet/security/policy/swdist.asp
Information on Bogus Microsoft Security Bulletin Emails
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/technet/security/news/patch_hoax.asp
How to Tell If a Microsoft Security-Related Message Is Genuine
http://www.microsoft.com/security/antivirus/authenticate_mail.asp
Remember, any and all legitimate patches and updates are readily
available at
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/. You should develop
the habit of checking this site at least once a month to keep your
computer up-to-date. (Notice that this is the true URL, rather than
the bogus one that may have been contained in the email you received.)
Any messages that point to any other source(s) or claim to have the
patch attached are bogus.
You're receiving these emails because your email address is in
the address book of someone infected with a worm, and/or because you
posted your real email address somewhere on-line, either in a forum
accessible to the public and spambots, such as Usenet, or on an
untrustworthy web site that subsequently sold your address as part of
a mailing list. One thing you can do is notify _everyone_ with whom
you've ever corresponded via email that one or more of them may be
infected with a mass emailing worm, and should take the appropriate
steps. You can also ask your ISP to take steps to preclude their mail
server from passing on such emails. Many ISPs have such filtering
capabilities.
--
Bruce Chambers
Help us help you:
You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having
both at once. - RAH
