Bogus MS email?

[Emily]

This came in this morning:

MS Partner

this is the latest version of security update,
the "September 2003, Cumulative Patch" update which fixes
all known security vulnerabilities affecting MS Internet
Explorer, MS Outlook and MS Outlook Express as well as
three newly discovered vulnerabilities. Install now to
protect your computer from these vulnerabilities, the most
serious of which could allow an attacker to run executable
on your computer. This update includes the functionality
of all previously released patches.

Pretty good production values. Their english needs a
boost. Thanks to you guys, I was not fooled. Right?

 

[Alex]

This came in this morning:

MS Partner

this is the latest version of security update,
the "September 2003, Cumulative Patch" update which fixes
all known security vulnerabilities affecting MS Internet
Explorer, MS Outlook and MS Outlook Express as well as
three newly discovered vulnerabilities. Install now to
protect your computer from these vulnerabilities, the most
serious of which could allow an attacker to run executable
on your computer. This update includes the functionality
of all previously released patches.

Pretty good production values. Their english needs a
boost. Thanks to you guys, I was not fooled. Right?

Total lack of imagination these virus guys.

 

[Emily]

Pretty transparent, the more you look at it. Worst of all,
beyond the poor writing, is the name of the "update":
September 2003. It is well known that products with a date
are released well before the date. They flunked marketing.

 

[Ken Blake]

In

This came in this morning:

MS Partner

this is the latest version of security update,
the "September 2003, Cumulative Patch" update which fixes
all known security vulnerabilities affecting MS Internet
Explorer, MS Outlook and MS Outlook Express as well as
three newly discovered vulnerabilities. Install now to
protect your computer from these vulnerabilities, the most
serious of which could allow an attacker to run executable
on your computer. This update includes the functionality
of all previously released patches.

Pretty good production values. Their english needs a
boost. Thanks to you guys, I was not fooled. Right?

Bogus, as you suspected. And well-known. The attachment almost
certainly contains a virus. Microsoft *never* sends patches via
E-mail.

 

[Travis King]

It IS a virus. I got fooled and downloaded it. It
release the virus W32.Gibe.B@mm or something like that.
It caused my computer to freeze up every time that I
would go to shut it down until my Norton quarantined it.
It also affected my Microsoft Outlook if you have that.
And that is correct: Microsoft NEVER sends update
messages through e-mail.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

What you received is either a very common malicious hoax or the
output of a computer infected by one of several wide-spread, mass
emailing worms. The most widely-known are:

W32.Gibe_mm
http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/[email protected]

W32.Dumaru_mm
http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/[email protected]

W32.Swen.A_mm
http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/[email protected]

Microsoft never has, does not currently, and 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

Any and all legitimate patches and updates are readily available
at http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/. (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.


Bruce Chambers

--
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You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH

 

[Danny Mingledorff]

i especially like:

The names of the actual companies and products mentioned herein are the
trademarks of their respective owners.