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	National Cyber Alert System
      Cyber Security Alert SA07-303A

Federal Trade Commission Reports Spoofed Email

   Original release date: October 30, 2007
   Last revised: --
   Source: US-CERT

Systems Affected

   * Any computer system can be affected when a person is a victim of
     social engineering, such as what can occur when malicious code is
     inadvertently downloaded from an attachment in a spoofed email.

Overview

   The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is reporting that spoofed email
   messages that appear to come from the FTC contain malicious
   attachments. If you open one of these attachments you may infect your
   computer with a keystroke logger or other malicious code.

Solution

Be suspicious

   Exercise caution when opening email messages and attachments. In this
   case, the FTC describes the spoofed email as follows:

     The spoof email includes a phony sender's address, making it appear
     the email is from "frauddep@ftc.gov" and also spoofs the
     return-path and reply-to fields to hide the email's true origin.
     While the email includes the FTC seal, it has grammatical errors,
     misspellings, and incorrect syntax.

   Attackers often construct email messages and web sites to imitate
   legitimate organizations in order to more effectively convince you to
   open and execute malicious attachments or click on malicious links.

   See the Avoiding Social Engineering and Phishing Cyber Security Tip in
   the references section for more information.

Install and update anti-virus software

   Updated anti-virus software can protect you from malicious code. For
   more information, please see Cyber Security Tip ST04-005 and ST05-006.

Description

   This spoofed email activity relies on social engineering techniques to
   convince you to open and run a malicious attachment. There is no
   software vulnerability involved and there is no software update to
   protect against this type of activity. For more information please see
   the FTC report.

References

   * Cyber Security Tip ST04-014 - Avoiding Social Engineering and
     Phishing Attacks http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/tips/ST04-014.html

   * Cyber Security Tip ST04-010 - Using Caution with Email Attachments
     http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/tips/ST04-010.html

   * Cyber Security Tip ST04-005 - Understanding Anti-Virus Software
     http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/tips/ST04-005.html

   * Cyber Security Tip ST05-006 - Recovering from Viruses, Worms, and
     Trojan Horses http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/tips/ST04-006.html

   * Trends in Badware 2007
     http://www.stopbadware.org/home/consumerreport

   * Don't Open Bogus Email that Comes from the FTC
     http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2007/10/bogus.shtm

 _________________________________________________________________

   The most recent version of this document can be found at:

     <http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/alerts/SA07-303A.html>
 _________________________________________________________________

   Feedback can be directed to US-CERT Technical Staff. Please send
   email to <cert@cert.org> with "SA07-303A Feedback INFO#23" in the
   subject.
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   For instructions on subscribing to or unsubscribing from this
   mailing list, visit <http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/signup.html>.
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   Produced 2007 by US-CERT, a government organization.

   Terms of use:

     <http://www.us-cert.gov/legal.html>
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Revision History

   October 30, 2007: Initial release
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