Red Alert, More Adobe Trouble!!!

We’ve got double trouble this time. Both involve Adobe so at least there is only one place you have to go to get your updates.

First of all, a new vulnerability in Adobe Flash Player has been discovered and is actively being exploited on the Internet. In simple terms, someone has figured out how to get into your computer using a program (Flash) which works with your Internet browser (Internet Explorer, Fire Fox, Google Chrome, etc). Since these are programming issues, your anti virus will not protect you at the moment. It is too soon to tell what the infections are trying to do or look for, but Adobe is so worried about it that they have published an update. This update will probably be installed automatically on your computer within the next week, depending on how updates are scheduled for your computer. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I want to wait up to 7 days for my computer to be updated for something going on now. I recommend that you go ahead and update now manually. Here is what you do…go to www.adobe.com and look over to the middle right side of the page you will see links for downloads. Click on the one for Adobe Flash. 

This will take you to the download page. Before you click the “Download Now” button, make sure you aren’t downloading some sort of freeware that Adobe likes to have tag along. It’s not going to damage your computer, but it’s annoying just the same. Most of the time, it’s Google tool bar or McAfee Security Scan. You don’t need either of those. Just uncheck the box for those. Then click the download and allow it to install.

The next issue is an email that seems to be making it past spam filters. It is an email entitled “Action Required-Download new Adobe Acrobat Reader…” or similar title. The copy that came to me looks like this (I made the text of the email red):

INTRODUCING UPGRADED ADOBE ACROBAT READER

Dear Customers,

Adobe is pleased to announce new version upgrades for Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Download Now To Try Us Out

Advanced features include:

- Collaborate across borders

- Create rich, polished PDF files from any application that prints

- Ensure visual fidelity

- Encrypt and share PDF files more securely

- Use the standard for document archival and exchange

To upgrade and enhance your work productivity today, go to:

Adobe Acrobat Reader Upgrade Center

Start downloading the update right now and let us know what you think about it.

We're working on making Adobe Acrobat Reader better all the time!

Copyright 2011 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Adobe Systems Incorporated

343 Preston Street

Ottawa, ON K1S 1N4

Canada  

“Download Now To Try Us Out” and “Adobe Acrobat Reader Upgrade Center” are links to bogus web sites based in former East Germany (I disabled the links so they won’t work) that will try to infect your computer by installing a fake version of Acrobat or some other software. DO NOT DO IT! Your computer will most likely become infected if you do. This type of email relies on “human engineering” to get people to just blindly believe and click on links without considering the consequences from an unsolicited email. There is, in reality, a new version of Acrobat Reader available, just go to the same www.adobe.com web site and download it there if you want to.

Almost all software is set to update automatically now. All of the major software makers rely on auto update so they don’t have to send out emails like this one. There are exceptions, but you should always be suspicious of emails like this that want you to download the next latest greatest version of some software you already have.

Just a reminder

Adobe has put out updates for Adobe Reader, Flash, and Shockwave that you should make sure are installed on your computers. They are security updates. If your computer does not do ask you to install these updates in the next day or so, go to www.adobe.com and install them directly from the web site.

Simple Solutions

Because we have computers and all of their complexities, we all tend to think that when there is a problem, it must be complex and difficult to solve. That is where I come in. I like to solve those kinds of problems. But we shouldn’t always look to those complex issues first when something happens. These three incidents happened in the past week prove that. I am going to change the names to protect the innocent. Here we go…

Episode 1

Mr. Royal has purchased a new Farmer computer with an extended warranty and a fancy support package. He got a great deal and no interest financing so I can’t blame for not buying it from me. Mr. Royal called Farmer’s support when his computer told him that his hard drive had failed. After a couple of hours talking to India, the very happy tech support told Mr. Royal that his computer had experienced a software problem that was not covered by their warranty and would he like to pay for their tech support to fix it. Mr. Royal prefers that his dollars be spent locally so he thanked them, hung up, and called me.

Mr. Royal’s computer is a very high end computer and has a special feature called “mirroring”. It just means that the computer has two hard drives that are exact copies of each other. The only problem was that his computer was telling him that both of the drives had failed. Like most people, I am sure the Farmer’s tech representative assumed that the problem was complex and set about trying to fix it.

I arrived, started the computer, and had it working in 5 minutes. It is very very very very (yes very!) rare that mirrored drives fail at the same time. There is one bad drive that will now be replaced under warranty by Farmers. What the tech should have done is use the simple diagnostic utility (it comes with the computer!!!) to confirm that both drives were bad. He had to know that the utility was in the computer, they built the thing!!! I pressed 4 keys (CTRL, i, y, ENTER!!!) when the computer started and it was back running again. Mr. Royal told me that they never went in to that utility, he wondered why, but they are tech support, they should know…

Episodes 2 and 3

These are similar so I will lump them together.

Ms. Joint called me and said her front desk computer turned itself off abruptly and won’t turn back on. They’ve tried plugging it in to another outlet, but it still doesn’t turn on. It is an older computer so it could be anything from a blown up mother board to a bad power supply. I looked at the computer and checked that big black power cord that plugs into the back of the computer. It felt very loose, like it wasn’t making contact with 3 prong thingies (technical term) on the power supply. I jiggled it, nothing. I have a power meter so I checked the power cord (don’t do this unless you know how, 110 volts of electricity is still there and you could get electrocuted). Hmm. Nothing. Go out to the car, get a $2 power cord and plug it in. Problem solved. No blown mother board, no bad hard drive, no bad power supply.

Finally, I was working for the Queen Elizabeth association on an unrelated matter when I heard a scream coming from the next room. One of the royal subjects had been working on a project and her computer had gone dead. It is a new computer so it is unlikely that it just died then and there. After I suggested they wiggle the power cord in the back of the computer, it came back to life. All of her work was recovered, the birds sang, it was a good day.

So what have we learned today, boys and girls? In the big scheme of things, when your computer has a problem, look at the simple stuff first. And check those power cords!!!

Busy Patch Tuesday

As I have told you previously, the second Tuesday of each month is when Microsoft releases security patches for all of their software. Tomorrow (02-08-11) is no different except that they are releasing several critical patches that are already being used to take control of computers world wide. Make sure you allow your computer to install these patches. Your computer will automatically reboot if you leave it unattended overnight after installing the patches so make sure you save your work before leaving your computer for the day/evening.

As a coincidence, Adobe is releasing a security update for its Acrobat Reader tomorrow. Most of the time, Adobe asks you for permission to install and does not do any installation unless you approve. So, when you see the little Adobe icon in the lower right corner of your screen next to the time display, go ahead and click on it and allow the installation to proceed.

And finally, those of you that use Firefox to browse the Internet will probably see an update within a week or so. The next version will be Firefox 3.6.14. Firefox is generally pretty good at telling you clearly that it wants to update. You should install this update also as it has several security fixes in it.

As always, please feel free to contact me with any problems or questions. Please feel free to forward this email to anyone who you feel may benefit from it.

New (old) Facebook Scam

There is another Facebook scam out there that uses the old “how many people have viewed your Facebook page” ploy. It asks you to take a short survey and give it access to your information. It will then steal your information (and probably sell it to spammers) and will open you up (until you change your password) to all sorts of “friends”. Read about it here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/21/my-total-facebook-views-scam_n_812410.html

There are no apps that can offer you this kind of information about who views your profile, don’t fall for it!!!

Patriot Act/FDIC Phishing Scan

Another phishing scam…this time supposedly coming from the FDIC telling you your bank account has been suspended (or some other action) that violates the Patriot Act. It then directs you to a web site that probably will either download malware/viruses to your computer or will steal your personal data. Don’t fall for these scams, just trash the emails. The two links below describe the scam.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/216644/patriot_act_phishing_emails_resurface_fdic_warns.html?tk=rss_news

http://www.fdic.gov/news/news/SpecialAlert/2011/sa11010.html

Facebook Picture Chat Virus

There is a new virus out that can infect your computer from the chat function in your Facebook photo album. The virus uses a link in the photo chat function that downloads malicious software. The best advice is that if you come across an embedded link/picture/website that you can click in a picture, DON’T GO THERE! This is one of the latest in tricks that hackers are using social networks like Facebook to attack and get control of computers.

Here is more information:

http://isc.sans.edu/diary.html?storyid=10246

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/01/10/facebook_worm_photo_chat_scam/

Remember, almost all hacking done today is all about money-stealing yours or somebody elses. The way they do that is to keep your computer working and connected to the Internet. There are very few viruses today that damage your computer and make it unusable. Also, most viruses now come from the Internet and not from email. Social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and Myspace are also especially vulnerable to having attacks planted in them. And any web site can be infected (Yes, Google, Yahoo, Bing, anyone!), not just the “questionable” ones. When you are surfing the Internet you should pay attention to how your computer is acting-Does it suddenly slow down and stay slow? Does Internet Explorer (or whatever browser you use to surf) lock up/crash often? Do web pages you normally surf load slowly or not at all?

The best thing to do to protect yourself is to make sure all of your programs (anti-virus, operating system (Windows), browser (Internet Explorer), media players (Flash, Windows, Quicktime, iTunes), Adobe Reader, etc, etc, etc) are updated and that they are set to update automatically. This means you should not ignore the little yellow shield, the red shield with the big “X” or any other new or unusual icon that shows up in the lower right corner of your screen. Hackers look for ways to get into your computer 24/7/365+! When they find a weakness, they will exploit it. When software companies find out about these weaknesses they send updates to fix them. That is what those little yellow shields and other icons are all about. Do not ignore them!

I am not agaist using Facebook, Twitter, etc-they are fun and great new ways to communicate and express ourselves. Be wary if you see something new that isn’t announced or wasn’t there before.