Monthly Archives: February 2008

Fake IRS Tax Refunds

Posted by on 12 February, 2008 2 comments

Emails are being sent claiming to be from USA’s IRS department. They claim to offer a $375 refund for filling out a form. The form is hosted on a hacked web site, not on the IRS’s web site. The form asks for a large amount of personal information including credit card numbers and PIN numbers. This information is collected (a trick known as phishing) and later used to commit identity theft (and effectively stealing your money).

cash_hand When doing any taxes online please ensure the website is correct. See this earlier article on how to recognise deceptive domain names (URLs) and check for SSL certificates on the page (double click on the padlock icon in Internet Explorer, read who owns the site).

Good antivirus packages these days will also keep track of which web sites you go to and alert you if it’s a known fraud site. So it’s a good investment to purchase one.

New Vulnerability in Adobe Reader

Posted by on 12 February, 2008 1 comment

It’s not news that PDF files can contain viruses. As useful as PDF files are the flaw is with the reader program, called Adobe Reader (previously called Adobe Acrobat Reader).

It’s possible to embed code in PDF files and it’s been shown that this code can download malicious programs from the internet and install them on the computer. At the moment the latest malicious code comes from Netherlands, and as with all things on the internet it can move or spread quickly.

If you have one of the following programs then you’re at risk. According to Adobe’s notice it affects all platforms (Windows, Mac, etc).

  • Adobe Reader 8.1.1 and earlier versions
  • Adobe Acrobat Professional 8.1.1 and earlier versions
  • Adobe Acrobat 3D 8.1.1 and earlier versions
  • Adobe Acrobat Standard 8.1.1 and earlier versions

The vulnerability has been fixed in version 8.1.2 so update all your computers to avoid this one. Antivirus software can also protect you if you keep it up to date and use a well established product.