Another Problem Email

There is yet another problematic email circulating. This one looks like an email from CNN. It contains THE DAILY TOP 10, a list of links to the top 10 list news article list. It looks very professional with the CNN logos and everything. If the recipient clicks on any of the links, a message appears that says Flash Player - Incorrect version and asks you if you want to download and install the new Flash Player. Again this looks very real. However, what gets downloaded is a piece of malware that proceeds to really cause damage to the computer.

This message looks very real. Users need to ask themselves, "Did I sign up for the CNN Top 10 List?" Also check the from address, it is not from the CNN domain. In short, users need to really be aware of what they are looking at in these types of messages.

We are seeing more and more of these very sophisticated messages. I received 2 of these CNN messages today myself. When they are mixed in with our daily email and newsletters they can very easily slip under our radar and end up costing serious issues with our computers and therefore cost businesses serious money.

Viruses and Malware Coming In Interesting Packages

There has been a rash of very interesting viruses and general bad stuff coming through email lately. The most recent is an email that appears to come from UPS and says they are unable to deliver a package and instructs the user to open the enclosed attachment for the package details. The attachment contains a virus. Another is an email that indicates your firewall needs to be updated and directs the user to click on a link that points to a website that will infect the computer.

These types of messages are not new. But they are getting very sophisticated. The messages look authentic and sent to the right person are very tempting to open. If you ship UPS packages all day or you just happen to be waiting on a UPS delivery and your receive the very official looking UPS message you may be inclined to open the message.

The solution is the same as it has been. Make sure you have good antivirus software with the latest updates, make sure you have good spyware software with the latest updates and make sure you stay on your toes. Unfortunately, EVERY email is suspect at this time. This is a good time to do a little refresher course for your email users on the dangers of email. It's too bad that some much time has to be spent on this but unfortunately that's the way it is.

Blogging From Word 2007

I was reading a few Blogs this morning and came across one that reminded me that Microsoft added a Blogging feature to Word 2007. This feature allows you to Blog directly from Word 2007. This is nice because I can take advantage of spell check and other tools built into Word. It's also nice because I can create Blog articles off line and post them later. This Blog Entry was created in Word 2007.

I also use Windows Live Writer which is another off-line Microsoft tool created for Bloggers. I will toggle between the two of them over the next few Blog articles to see which one I like the best. It's getting easier and easier to Blog. And it's a great way to keep in touch with your stakeholders. Do you have a Blog? Let me know if you would like some help getting one started.

Spam and Viruses On the Upswing

We have been seeing a fairly high increase in Client machines that are infected with various types of malware. It's not just us. The industry as a whole is seeing the same thing. It looks like for the moment the bad guys are winning. Current spam and virus detection tools are just not keeping up. This article confirms what we have been seeing.

Of course you still want to make sure that you have current anti-spam and anti-virus programs on all your computers. And make sure that users have a good understanding of how and where malware can come from. And let's hope that the good guys can get ahead of the game sometime soon.

Office 2007 SP1 Released

Microsoft released the SP1 update for Office 2007 a couple of weeks ago. We have installed the update on several machines and have had no problems.

SP1 addresses issues in all the Office modules. One of the most significant is a fix for an Excel issue that was causing erroneous calculations.

If you are using Office 2007, I would suggest you install this update. You can download the update here.