Wednesday, June 4, 2014
A really bad spam mail...
A really bad spam mail... Got this one last night:
Obviously, I did not run that jar file. For the non-geeks out there, a “jar” file contains a program written in Java that can do just about any damn thing it wants to on your system. Running a jar file that you got from someone you don't know is a really, really bad idea. It could ruin your whole day. Actually, a lot of whole days...
There are enough red flags for anyone reading this (poor English, missing name, unlikely monetary pitch, etc.) that I think it's unlikely they'll fool many people. At least, I hope that's the case! On the other hand, I can imagine that there are a lot of people who don't realize that running a jar file can do really bad things...
DearAttached is a file named “331,000 $ SWIFT.jpg.jar”
Today we have transfer the advance payment USD331,000 into your account. Find below the swift copy and please kindly let us know when the shipment will be ready.
NB: Open the attach file with java application.
Hope to hear from you soon.
Regards.
Sales manager
alfouad-trading co.
Obviously, I did not run that jar file. For the non-geeks out there, a “jar” file contains a program written in Java that can do just about any damn thing it wants to on your system. Running a jar file that you got from someone you don't know is a really, really bad idea. It could ruin your whole day. Actually, a lot of whole days...
There are enough red flags for anyone reading this (poor English, missing name, unlikely monetary pitch, etc.) that I think it's unlikely they'll fool many people. At least, I hope that's the case! On the other hand, I can imagine that there are a lot of people who don't realize that running a jar file can do really bad things...
Hiccups...
Hiccups ... are still a complete mystery. The philosopher in me says that this is evidence that if there is (or was) a Creator, he (or she) had a sense of humor. The software engineer in me says: “Bug!”