Email warning

[mjs warlord]

It goes without saying that if you dont recognise the address or subject line DONT open it , if you think you are being clever using a spare pc in case the email has a virus that is a bad move cos all your doing by opening is confirming that your email address actually exists so you will get some more.

I just got the following ..... it was an email from somebody i dont know and the subject line was satisfactory photos.
What puzzles me is the fact that how would this person know i use satisfactory and more to the point how did he get that particular email address , it is in fact a gmail address that i know i have never used , i set it up because i was having problems with my isp server and the problem was fixed without the need to use the new gmail

 

[Colif]

ultra paranoid: set up a Win 10 VM and open the email in there. then it can't infect anything apart from the VM. Helps to have a win 10 VM already you can copy to use in the test. You could disable its internet access before opening.

Not perfect as some malware can now tell if its being opened in a live or virtual environment and may act differently.

Having a good AV and/or Malwarebytes can save you too.

 

[Frindis]

I go the same way with phones. If somebody calls me and I don't know the number, I'll first look up the number. If there is no known name/company to it, I block it. No name/company, can't take the number seriously.

 

[mjs warlord]

I go the same way with phones. If somebody calls me and I don't know the number, I'll first look up the number. If there is no known name/company to it, I block it. No name/company, can't take the number seriously.

Hi Frindis ..... i have noticed a big increase in spam phone callers faking their number so it looks like its a local number and that makes you pick it up. I have also had calls with about 20 digits in the number and it scrolls so fast in the landline handset you cant write it down. I dont answer it i just ignore it but the phone carries on ringing for about 10 minutes.

 

[ZedClampet]

ultra paranoid: set up a Win 10 VM and open the email in there. then it can't infect anything apart from the VM. Helps to have a win 10 VM already you can copy to use in the test. You could disable its internet access before opening.

Not perfect as some malware can now tell if its being opened in a live or virtual environment and may act differently.

Having a good AV and/or Malwarebytes can save you too.

This is called "sandboxing". I use a separate program for sandboxing. I used to have to download viruses and malware for work. Anyway these are easy to use, and I never open emails or follow "mystery" links without sandboxing. In fact, I almost always use a sandboxed version of Chrome to do anything online. It is a nearly 100 percent method of avoiding malware and viruses. The only thing you need to consider is whether you are actually wanting to download something that you want to keep.

 

[mjs warlord]

This is called "sandboxing". I use a separate program for sandboxing. I used to have to download viruses and malware for work. Anyway these are easy to use, and I never open emails or follow "mystery" links without sandboxing. In fact, I almost always use a sandboxed version of Chrome to do anything online. It is a nearly 100 percent method of avoiding malware and viruses. The only thing you need to consider is whether you are actually wanting to download something that you want to keep.

Somebody in our R&D gave me a copy of the CAD software he was using , i scanned it with the Macafee av i was using at the time and because i am a paranoid geek i scanned it with malware bytes and it found about 7 dangerous items that Macafee missed. I showed him a printout of the items that i had googled , they were pups, malware and a keylogger. He said at least i now know why my pc's keep doing odd things. The company owner is an A HOLE and as far as i know all of those machines are still infected. We could not report it because the boss would want to know how we found them.

 

[Colif]

i have a program on the VM that sets it up so any changes made after its started aren't saved, and on restart it loads to a state it was before program started. I used to use it to decypher dump files. Now I don't use it at all. Except to remember what win 10 looks like.

I would find its name but I don't feel like sitting here for an hour while windows 10 updates. It always happens when I start VM. Open it for one little thing and windows wants to update - one of few people who want it to be Oct 25 just to stop getting updates on it.

 

[ZedClampet]

Somebody in our R&D gave me a copy of the CAD software he was using , i scanned it with the Macafee av i was using at the time and because i am a paranoid geek i scanned it with malware bytes and it found about 7 dangerous items that Macafee missed. I showed him a printout of the items that i had googled , they were pups, malware and a keylogger. He said at least i now know why my pc's keep doing odd things. The company owner is an A HOLE and as far as i know all of those machines are still infected. We could not report it because the boss would want to know how we found them.

So your boss was okay with you downloading free CAD software, but not okay with you using malwarebytes?

Boss must be some kind of major a-hole if everyone would rather use computers with malware and key loggers than fess up and clean the systems.

The personality of bosses can pose a security risk, that's for sure. That's why the policy for cybersecurity issues should be that they get reported to the cybersecurity team and no one else unless there's been a data breach.

 

[mjs warlord]

So your boss was okay with you downloading free CAD software, but not okay with you using malwarebytes?

Boss must be some kind of major a-hole if everyone would rather use computers with malware and key loggers than fess up and clean the systems.

The personality of bosses can pose a security risk, that's for sure. That's why the policy for cybersecurity issues should be that they get reported to the cybersecurity team and no one else unless there's been a data breach.

Hi Zed i think you misread what i said ... i did not download free CAD a pal in the R&D gave me a copy of the companies CAD software which is a sackable offence and i found the nasty stuff when i got home and thats why me and my pal could not tell him what we found

 

[Colif]

Must be someway to let him know that doesn't implicate you...
Their security provider needs to be told perhaps. That sort of thing should be found in scans of the network

 

[red_5ive]

Hi Frindis ..... i have noticed a big increase in spam phone callers faking their number so it looks like its a local number and that makes you pick it up. I have also had calls with about 20 digits in the number and it scrolls so fast in the landline handset you cant write it down. I dont answer it i just ignore it but the phone carries on ringing for about 10 minutes.

I got tired of the robo calls so I forwarded my number to an inactive number that I have on my mobile service, which when called goes directly to the "this number has been disconnected" message. Left it there for a while and let everyone know that I care about to just text me if they get that message. So far it has worked, haven't had a spam call in over a year.

But then you have those family members/friends that don't think twice about entering your number into a website, such as event coordinating/planning sites. That happened a few weeks ago, I got a text invitation for a Christmas party from some website. Aggravating.

 

[Colif]

considering my phone number for mobile includes the series 4567 I hardly get any calls. Did have a month I was getting random calls every day but I just ignored them... answered it once and they were after someone else. Ignored rest.

Mum uses an answering machine on the land line (misnomer given we use VOIP) and never answers any calls from numbers she doesn't know. Family know to speak and she will answer if its an unknown number.

 

[Frag Maniac]

Well if scammers will pretend to be Social Security workers, which they've been doing lately to take advantage of the elderly, they'll no doubt stoop to anything.

BTW, if you've not seen it, Beekeeper is an excellent Jason Statham movie where he plays a former operative who comes out of retirement to avenge an elderly friend that rented him an apt. She was tele scammed and losing the multi million dollar charity fund she was overseeing drove her to suicide. Beekeeper has great action, humor, and pretty good HDR, but the story is pretty relative to the times we live in too.