"September 2003, Cumulative Patch" update and strange emails

[Frank Wendling]

I received a security support email from Microsoft twice
in recent days. I didn't open it but went to the
Microsoft web site looking for the "September 2003,
Cumulative Patch" update but didn't find it. This is the
message I received.

"MS Customer

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 new vulnerabilities. Install now to continue
keeping your computer secure 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."

Is this message legitimate? How do I find the patch?

On another subject addressed earlier on this board by
Tommy's question. I, too, have been receiving strange
emails in my hotmail account ( about 144kb-156kb in size)
regarding emails that were undeliverable, a couple from
the Postmaster. Since I had sent some emails recently I
opened these to see what the problem was. The message
was something to the effect " Sorry, we have not been
able to deliver the email to the following address ...,
Which had nothing to do with the emails that I sent out.
I immediately deleted these emails and scanned my
computer and the C drive for virus. PABear thought
Tommy's messages might be a Trojan virus-laden
message "This is the first I've seen of Trojan virus-
laden messages arriving in a Hotmail account, Tommy.
Usually the Hotmail server-side scanners catch and delete
them." No viruses were found on my computer. Any other
thoughts about what these messages are and why they are
getting through hotmail's check system?

Frank

 

[Nicholas]

Frank --

You did not receive an update notification from Microsoft. You
received a virus-laden email message from a devious imposter!

A devious imposter is "spoofing" Microsoft and attempting to deceive you
into installing a malicious VIRUS in your computer! Delete the VIRUS
laden message immediately!

Microsoft never sends file attachments with email messages!

Please take a moment to read the following articles:

Information on Bogus Microsoft Security Bulletin E-mails
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

How to Trim the "Spam" from Your E-Mail Diet
http://www.microsoft.com/security/articles/spam.asp


--
Nicholas

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


| I received a security support email from Microsoft twice
| in recent days. I didn't open it but went to the
| Microsoft web site looking for the "September 2003,
| Cumulative Patch" update but didn't find it. This is the
| message I received.
|
| "MS Customer
|
| 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 new vulnerabilities. Install now to continue
| keeping your computer secure 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."
|
| Is this message legitimate? How do I find the patch?
|
| On another subject addressed earlier on this board by
| Tommy's question. I, too, have been receiving strange
| emails in my hotmail account ( about 144kb-156kb in size)
| regarding emails that were undeliverable, a couple from
| the Postmaster. Since I had sent some emails recently I
| opened these to see what the problem was. The message
| was something to the effect " Sorry, we have not been
| able to deliver the email to the following address ...,
| Which had nothing to do with the emails that I sent out.
| I immediately deleted these emails and scanned my
| computer and the C drive for virus. PABear thought
| Tommy's messages might be a Trojan virus-laden
| message "This is the first I've seen of Trojan virus-
| laden messages arriving in a Hotmail account, Tommy.
| Usually the Hotmail server-side scanners catch and delete
| them." No viruses were found on my computer. Any other
| thoughts about what these messages are and why they are
| getting through hotmail's check system?
|
| Frank
|

 

[NeoSadist]

I received a security support email from Microsoft twice
in recent days. I didn't open it but went to the
Microsoft web site looking for the "September 2003,
Cumulative Patch" update but didn't find it. This is the
message I received.

"MS Customer

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 new vulnerabilities. Install now to continue
keeping your computer secure 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."

Is this message legitimate? How do I find the patch?

On another subject addressed earlier on this board by
Tommy's question. I, too, have been receiving strange
emails in my hotmail account ( about 144kb-156kb in size)
regarding emails that were undeliverable, a couple from
the Postmaster. Since I had sent some emails recently I
opened these to see what the problem was. The message
was something to the effect " Sorry, we have not been
able to deliver the email to the following address ...,
Which had nothing to do with the emails that I sent out.
I immediately deleted these emails and scanned my
computer and the C drive for virus. PABear thought
Tommy's messages might be a Trojan virus-laden
message "This is the first I've seen of Trojan virus-
laden messages arriving in a Hotmail account, Tommy.
Usually the Hotmail server-side scanners catch and delete
them." No viruses were found on my computer. Any other
thoughts about what these messages are and why they are
getting through hotmail's check system?

Frank

They are spam. DO NOT install ANYTHING from an email attachment, period.
If you want to check for updates, use windows update (the one you already
have on your computer, and no one else). The genuine site for this is
http://v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com

 

[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.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]

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.

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.

There's probably no way of blocking all of the bogus messages, but
you can greatly reduce the number you get by creating a rule, based
upon the most commonly used subject lines, to delete the emails from
the server without ever downloading them.


Bruce Chambers

--
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