contacting Microsot

[Robert Powers]

(My actual email address is NOT the "anonymous" address
that automatically appears above. It's
(e-mail address removed).)

I can NOT figure out how to contact Microsoft about a
security issue. I keep getting pop-up screens saying my
computer is threatened by something, and I should go to
some website for updates or patches.

But I've been told that Microsoft does NOT offer
automatic patches, so such offers can be dangerous and
fake.

I've been referred to:
- www.windows-patch.info
- www.ad-free-pc.com
-www.spw7a.com

But I don't know whether it's safe to actually go there.

Once before, I got a message that I should do an update,
and I did it, and crashed my computer. Don't want to do
that again.

SO: Can anybody either (a) tell me about whether those
references are safe, and/or (b) tell me how to contact
Microsoft to find out if offers of updates/patches that
CLAIM to be from Microsoft are actually from Microsoft.

Bob Powers
(e-mail address removed)

 

[Trafton]

Hi Bob,

First of all, those are sites that attempt to sell you free products.

The first thing you should do is turn on the built-in firewall that comes
with Windows XP. This will prevent these popups.

The patches are probably from Microsoft, but you can get them free at
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/ so there is no reason to buy them.
Microsoft is aware of these sites.

Hope this helps!

Sincerely,
Benjamin "Trafton" Johnstone-Anderson
Microsoft MVP - Windows Security
Remove "SPAM" from email address to reply!
Security Manifest: www.msmvps.com/trafton/

 

[Colin Nash [MVP]]

Have a look here:

http://www.microsoft.com/security/antivirus/authenticate_mail.asp

You can sign up for REAL email from Microsoft about new security issues
here: http://www.microsoft.com/security/security_bulletins/alerts2.asp
**They do not send the actual patch file by email. Never open an attachment
that claims to be from Microsoft. Instead, Microsoft will send you a link
to further info on the microsoft.com web site.**

 

[Guest]

There are at least three varieties of pop-ups, and the
solutions vary accordingly. Which specific type(s) is
troubling you?

1) Does the title bar of these pop-ups read "Messenger
Service?"

This type of spam has become quite common over the
past several months, and unintentionally serves as a valid
security "alert." It demonstrates that you haven't been
taking sufficient precautions while connected to the
Internet. Your data probably hasn't been compromised by
these specific advertisements, but if you're open to this
exploit, you may well be open to other threats, such as
the Blaster Worm that recently swept cross the Internet.
Install and use a decent, properly configured firewall.
(Merely disabling the messenger service, as some people
recommend, only hides the symptom, and does little or
nothing to truly secure your machine.) And ignoring or
just "putting up with" the security gap represented by
these messages is particularly foolish. A free good
firewall you can get is ZoneAlarm.

Messenger Service of Windows
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-
us;168893

Messenger Service Window That Contains an Internet
Advertisement Appears
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=330904

Stopping Advertisements with Messenger Service Titles
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/howto/communic
ate/stopspam.asp

Blocking Ads, Parasites, and Hijackers with a Hosts File
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm

Whichever firewall you decide upon, be sure to ensure
UDP ports 135, 137, and 138 and TCP ports 135, 139, and
445 are _all_blocked. You may also disable Inbound
NetBIOS (NetBIOS over TCP/IP). You'll have to follow the
instructions from firewall's manufacturer for the specific
steps.

You can test your firewall at:

Symantec Security Check
http://security.symantec.com/ssc/vr_main.asp?
langid=ie&venid=sym&plfid=23&pkj=GPVHGBYNCJEIMXQKCDT

Security Scan - Sygate Online Services
http://www.sygatetech.com/

Oh, and be especially wary of people who advise you to
do nothing more than disable the messenger service.
Disabling the messenger service, by itself, is a "head in
the sand" approach to computer security. The real problem
is _not_ the messenger service pop-ups; they're actually
providing a useful, if annoying, service by acting as a
security alert. The true problem is the unsecured
computer, and you've been advised to merely turn off the
warnings. How is this helpful?

2) For regular Internet pop-ups, you might try the
free 12Ghosts Popup-killer from
http://12ghosts.com/ghosts/popup.htm, Pop-Up Stopper from
http://www.panicware.com/, or the Google Toolbar from
http://toolbar.google.com/. Also a good firewall can stop
these(such as nortons internet security).

3) To deal with pop-ups caused by any sort
of "adware" and/or "spyware,"such as Gator, Comet Cursors,
Xupiter, Bonzai Buddy, or KaZaA, and their remnants, that
you've deliberately (but without understanding the
consequences) installed, two products that are quite
effective (at finding and removing this type of scumware)
are Ad-Aware from www.lavasoft.de and SpyBot Search &
Destroy from www.safer-networking.org/. Both have free
versions. It's even possible to use SpyBot Search &
Destroy to "immunize" your system against most future
intrusions. Use both and generally perform manual scans
every week or so to clean out cookies, etc.


Spybot Search and Destroy
http://www.safer-networking.net/

Lavasoft AdAware
http://www.lavasoft.de

CWSShredder
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html

Hijack This!
http://mjc1.com/mirror/hjt/

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

Hi - please note that posting your valid e-mail address in a newsgroup post,
or in your news account settings, is a surefire way to get spam and SWEN and
other viruses sent to you....see http://www.mailmsg.com/SPAM_munging.htm for
help in the future, but note that now that your address is out there,
there's not much you can do other than changing your address. Also, most
people in these groups won't reply via email anyway - the usual statement is
"ask in a group, read the answer in the group".

Re your popups - does the window title say anything about Messenger? If so,
you need a firewall. 'Messenger spam', is not in itself harmful, but is
symptomatic of a larger problem - your computer has ports open from the
Internet.

You can disable the Messenger service, but that is unwise as a solution as
you'll still have the underlying problem that caused you to get the messages
in the first place - consider the messages a useful warning that you have no
protection from the Internet. This is all too important now, given the
recent rash of RPC worms....

For a standalone machine, see www.sygate.com for a free personal firewall,
or if using Windows XP, you can enable the built-in internet connection
firewall (ICF).

See http://securityadmin.info/faq.htm for more info. Also,
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/nopopups.htm is a good resource - although
for browser popups, you might want to consider http://toolbar.google.com -
it works like a champ and is also handy for searching.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

There's no real need to contact Microsoft in this case.

The messages your getting are part of a well-known scam, plain and
simple. It's from a very unscrupulous "business" that's trying to
sell you patches and information that Microsoft already provides,
free-of-charge. It's also demonstrating that your PC is very
unsecure.

This type of spam has become quite common over the past year or
so, and unintentionally serves as a valid security "alert." It
demonstrates that you haven't been taking sufficient precautions while
connected to the Internet. Your data probably hasn't been compromised
by these specific advertisements, but if you're open to this exploit,
you most definitely open to other threats, such as the Blaster Worm
that still haunts the Internet. Install and use a decent, properly
configured firewall. (Merely disabling the messenger service, as some
people recommend, only hides the symptom, and does little or nothing
to truly secure your machine.) And ignoring or just "putting up with"
the security gap represented by these messages is particularly
foolish.

Messenger Service of Windows
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;168893

Messenger Service Window That Contains an Internet Advertisement
Appears
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=330904

Stopping Advertisements with Messenger Service Titles
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/howto/communicate/stopspam.asp

Blocking Ads, Parasites, and Hijackers with a Hosts File
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm

Whichever firewall you decide to use, be sure to ensure that UDP
ports 135, 137, and 138 and TCP ports 135, 139, and 445 are _all_
blocked. You may also disable Inbound NetBIOS (NetBIOS over TCP/IP).
You'll have to follow the instructions from firewall's manufacturer
for the specific steps.

You can test your firewall at:

Symantec Security Check
http://security.symantec.com/ssc/vr_main.asp?langid=ie&venid=sym&plfid=23&pkj=GPVHGBYNCJEIMXQKCDT

Security Scan - Sygate Online Services
http://www.sygatetech.com/

Oh, and be especially wary of people who advise you to do nothing
more than disable the messenger service. Disabling the messenger
service, by itself, is a "head in the sand" approach to computer
security. The real problem is _not_ the messenger service pop-ups;
they're actually providing a useful, if annoying, service by acting as
a security alert. The true problem is the unsecured computer, and
you've been advised to merely turn off the warnings. How is this
truly helpful?


Bruce Chambers

--
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