Site Meter Home Computer Talk » Blog Archive » Storm Worm Spam Attack

Storm Worm Spam Attack

by Susan Walsh

Did you recently get a mysterious pop up ad urging you to invest in some penny stocks? If so I have bad news. You’ve got the Storm worm. Over 250,000 people received the ad, and it’s likely many of them never even knew they were infected. The worm turned the computers it infected into zombies-that is, it silently took control of the system. Groups of zombie computers are called botnets and they can inflict everything from floods of spam to attacks on websites called Denial of Service Attacks without the computers owner ever knowing. Unfortunately getting rid of the worm is a job itself as it’s cleverly designed to mutate to avoid detection. Check out this site for help if you think you’ve got this worm. http://www.f-secure.com/v-descs/small_dam.shtml
690560_yipes.jpg
If you don’t, count your blessings-then update your anti-virus and internet security software and remember to never ever open an attachment ending in .exe or .pif, and to never open an attachment of any kind from someone you don’t know! Be careful about websites you visit as well. Don’t blindly click on links in emails. Let your mouse pointer hover over them for a moment first and look at bar at the bottom of the screen, where the REAL addresss will be revealed. Don’t be surprised if Paypal.com turns out to really be “scammersite.this is a scam.com/paypal”. Spammers and scammers are getting increasingly good at producing fake webpages that look just like the real thing, but they still can’t foil the simple mouse over the link trick!

, , , , ,


Leave a Reply


About Home Computer Talk

This site is for home computer users. Learn more about how to use your PC at home and ask questions. Any questions will be answered promptly.

Home Computer Talk Author(s)
    » JM

Blogging Flair

Technology Channel Posts

Hot Off The Press

  • Maced tailgater out of jail on $2,000 bail
    Tyrone Calvin Graham-Jones was released Thursday morning from the Isabella County Jail on $2,000 bail, after a non-running preliminary examination. Graham-Jones had been in police custody since he [...]
  • How Long To Take Antidepressants
    There's no shame in taking medication. However, many people suffering from any type of depression feel resentful at having to take medication in order to feel better. Part of this reason is the cost [...]
  • No. 9 Women's Golf Opens Fall Season Sunday
    The No. 9 Auburn women's golf team will begin play on Sunday at the NCAA Fall Preview in Owings Mills, Md., hosted by Georgetown University. The two-day tournament will be played at Caves Valley Golf [...]
  • XBox 360 Price Cuts
    The three readers of this blog who are no doubt sick of my bitching about my personal XBox 360 problems, fear not. I'm only bringing them up because now that the Xbox 360 is has an official price [...]
  • Advice from Nina Garcia from Project Runway
    Advice for pregnant women: "Wear jewelry. Lots of jewelry. Make the guy buy it for you--he got you into this. He can help you style your way through it. Ms. Garcia points out that style is [...]
  • The Big Millennium Falcon for Thirty-Two Fiddy
    A recent forum posting has created a bit of a stir lately that I thought I'd share. On Hisstank.com, a prominent G.I. Joe toy message board, someone posted strong evidence that they bought three of [...]
  • HOH Room Reveal - and gametalk
    Here it is - the HOH reveal! After the cut, of course... His letter is cute - from sister, dad and mom. He's told twice to keep his sister's romantic life out of his conversations, [...]
  • Casting Roundup: Desperate Housewives, 30 Rock, ER and More
    Gail O'Grady, who starred as secretary Donna Abandando on NYPD Blue and mom Helen Pryor on American Dreams, will be joining the cast of Desperate Housewives in a recurring role this season. Gail's [...]
  • The NFC East Might Not Be As Good As Advertised
    I say this as an Eagles fan, but the title of this post is pretty much par for the course. Since this is technically a fantasy football site, I probably should have mentioned that the NFL was [...]
  • FSU weekly news (September 2 - September 5)
    In this edition of FSU Headlines (13:04): - Sports and Citizens at FSU - FSU and the Lucky Few - Leadership for Medicine, a Leader for Real Estate - Lots of Leaders at Law Subscribe to FSU [...]