There is an issue with the WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER in the amount of $850,000.00 USD directed in cash credited to file UNP/9066336466/08, at the owner of this email address.
The International Monetary Fund in collaboration with the Government of this country contacted us for your compensation a couple of hours ago due to your allocated security code which your email address was selecetd with an automated machine that selects email addressess through internet.So we require some more information in order to complete this transfer.
FULL NAME:
FULL CONTACT ADDRESS:
MOBILE PHONE NUMBER:
OCCUPATION:
MARITAL STATUS AND AGE:
In order to resolve this problem,please email via Western Union Solicitors Fund Verification Department:
Name: Mark Wilson
Email:mw2764773@googlemail.com
TELEPHONE:+233249841613
As soon as this information is received,and you have Complied with the requirements of payment of the western union charges,payment will be made to your nominated bank account or at the counter directly from The Western Union Transfering Bank.
When emailing,please use reference number 72912 for our mutual convenience.
THE MANAGEMENT OF WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER OFFICE.
Sincerely,
MR.Morris Edward
Western Union Payments
As we focus on making a difference in people’s lives, people focus on
Western Union and acknowledge the possibilities we offer to those we
serve
The United States’ top commanding officer for the space and cyber domains told reporters last week that a cyber attack could merit a more conventional military response.
During a press briefing on Thursday, U.S. Air Force General Kevin Chilton, who heads the U.S. Strategic Command, told reporters that top Pentagon advisors would not rule out a physical attack on any force that attacks the United States through the Internet. Currently, the military’s networks are probed thousands of times a day, but the goal of attackers seems to be espionage, not to take down critical networks, he told reporters –
I don’t believe that military force is the equivalent action for a cyber attack. Arrest and/or apprehension is the physical response necessary for criminal hackers attacking from other countries. Cyber counter-attacks are the correct response for government funded & coordinated attacks.
I think if the U.S. reciprocates a cyber attack x10 when other countries are playing little games, we’d get our message across effectively. We should do so in a well funded and covert way in which the enemy has NO DOUBT that the face slap came from a U.S, hand, but no proof at all allowing plausible deniability. It should be black Ops hacks, very well coordinated, very well funded and full time.
I don’t think the US can be complacent or wrecklessly meek in matters of cyber warfare. Instead, it must be fair, quiet and heavy handed when it comes to one of its most valuable asset, information.
This is not your momma hacking. This is militarized hacking, Pentagon style. It is state funded with the intent of allowing the killing of people and the breaking of things.
“U.S. Defense Department officials were so impressed with the level of coordination between ground military ops and cyberattacks against strategical targets during the recent conflicts, that they are now looking for ways to weaponize hacking. Aviation Week glanced at such a device and reports that it is being designed to be easily used even by non-techy soldiers.” softpedia
Welcome to the neo-CyberArms race! Where uncontrollable cyber weapons that can turn off cities and detonate public utility plants with the touch of a button! This is not the beginning of a William Gibson novel, this is not the synopsis of Snow Crash, or the theme of a cyberpunk trilogy this is reality… virtual reality.
On a serious note, I think China has already weaponized hacking. Hopefully, this is not the first time the US has thought about this.
If you are doing Certification & Accreditation then you know it’s all about the documentation.
But its not just about reviewing the documentation that a system is supposed to have. If you’re in the business of getting systems validated sometimes you’ll have to produce the documentation.
An IA Analyst, system security engineer or Information Assurance Officer (IAO) usually documents the results of their security tests. For example, if they run a Retina Scan they will want to generate a report that has the results of that network or system scan.
DoD Information Assurance Certification & Accreditation (DIACAP) Knowledge Service, the Enterprise Information Technology Data Repository (EITDR) and other IT profile databases have very detailed information on what the final Validators are looking for.
If you’re in line with the final validators you will not have much of a problem, because they will approve the system and move it on to the Designated Approval Authority (DAA).
Sophos put out a Star Trek Based Anti-Virus. Pure genius. The downloads for it are off the charts. Its free. Its fun and its increbibly smart marketing. Like many brilliant ideas it was an accident. Well, it was put out as an accident. But I for one am glad it was.
The Star Trek movie was awesome by the way! Great move for a franchise that deserves a larger commercial audience. I’m anxious for more movies and shows.
If you bought a Dell or Gateway, more than likely you only have one account on your computer with no password. That account runs as the administrator. If your system has no user name or password applied, it is running as an administrator account.
This is how so many people get viruses. When you surf the web as an administrator is allows malicious applications (viruses, worms, Trojans and other malware) to download to your computer and run as the administrator. This means they can replace system files with viruses, create back doors and harm other computers on your network. They can also spy on you manipulate your browser or do anything else they want to do.
One way to greatly minimize the effects of viruses is to create accounts on your system and only use the administrator account when its necessary. Create a limited user account that you use when surfing the web, getting into your email or doing other small tasks that don’t require downloading or installing applications.
With a limited account, even if the malware is downloaded, it will not be able to install.
I’m a geek in everyway. Looking back its apparent that I always have been. I was geek when it wasn’t cool.. the 80’s when the cult classic “Nerds†came out. I identified with and felt a kinship toward the nerds in the movie. But didn’t embrace my geek-hood until my late teen years.
I’ve never quite fit in. I always became friends with outcasts, oddballs very smart people. I had “cool†friends and could hang out with all types of people and that has been a blessing to this day. But I’m more comfortable with geeks, oddballs and outcasts. I feel more free around them.
These days, I’m actually trying to get into super geek-dom: mathematics, computers and science. More specifically computer science which is like a culmination of all things “ultra geekâ€. I’m really excited about getting into computer science. Computer security is great but I’m wanting a skill that will allow me to create. Something like programming or electronics. I will definitely keep my computer security skills & knowledge current.
From: zenithbnkplc28@gmail.com
Subject: ARE YOU STILL ALIVE?
Date: Mon, 11 May 2009 01:14:04 -0700
To:
FROM THE DESK OF THE MINISTER: Hon. (Mrs.) Nnanadi Usman
FEDERAL MINISTRY OF FINANCE
SECRETARY: Mrs. Pamela Yough
5th Floor, Annex 3, New Federal Secretariat Complex,
Shehu Shagari Way, Central Area
Lagos – Nigeria.
+234-803-332-3353
(Advised to verify our web for your compliance)
Hello,
I am Mrs. Pamela Yough; I work with ZENITH BANK PLC. I am member of the new appointed committee for the FEDERAL MINISTRY OF FINANCE. I was directed to contact you by the Minister to urgently confirm from you if actually you know one Peter Woo and who claim to be your business associate/partner in Nigeria.
The said Mr. Peter Woo and is claiming to us that you are dead and he will like to change all the Information’s that you gave to us as our bonafide beneficiary. This development is coming now that the Ministry wants to offset all your outstanding payments to all our legal origin beneficiaries’ around the world in which your payment file was affected.
As you may know, the total amount in your favor is a total sum of $35 Million U.S Dollars. We need to confirm from you if it’s really true that you are dead and if we did not hear from you it automatically means that you are actually dead and the information passed to us by Mr. Peter Woo and is correct before we will be able to send signal for approval of the part-payment in accordance with section 290 Act 166 OF 2008.
You are to contact me through my email address as soon as you receive this message so as to know the true position of things with you so that we would not make any mistake in remitting your out-standing payment to a wrong person/account.
Your swift response will help this ministry a lot. Do email me with your full particulars and direct phone number for an easy communication, your age and occupation to this effect in furtherance to these verifications.
Best Regards.
Hon. (Mrs.) Nnanadi Usman
The Federal Minister Finance (FMF).
PERSONAL SECRETARY: Mrs. Pamela Yough
This may sound ridiculous to a blogger/technophiliac/contractor who has his entire life well documented in easily accessible public and government databases, but privacy is important. I believe we should have a say so in how private we want our lives to be. Of course, certain sensitive data should definitely be automatically classified and encrypted. For example, I don’t believe that the government should pry into what books we’ve checked out at the Library. Or what we’ve bought at the store.
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s has been pretty lax with other people privacy. Since he determines our nation’s laws his comments and intensions on such matters are very important. The silly thing about all this is that he doesn’t agree with HIS privacy being exploited.
Brett Stone-Gross, Marco Cova, Lorenzo Cavallaro, Bob Gilbert, Martin Szydlowski, Richard Kemmerer, Chris Kruegel, Giovanni Vigna of the Security Group Department of Computer Science University of California in Santa Barbara hacked into a botnet called Torpig.
Torpig gathers credit card, bank accounts and other sensitive data and sends it to criminals. The botnet had stolen 70 GB of data.
The security group took advantage of the open, decentralized nature of peer-to-peer to infiltrate it. Victims are infected by drive-by-download attacks.
They use phishing sites and advertise them on google, facebook, myspace and other popular sites. They also use email. To hijack the botnet they exploited a vulnerability in the way the malware generates a list of domains it contacts.
Not becoming a victim in the first place is the most ideal situation, however. The researchers concluded that victims of botnets are usually those with poorly maintained machines and who choose “easily guessable” passwords. ” This is evidence that the malware problem is fundamentally a cultural problem,” reads the report. “Even though people are educated and understand well concepts such as the physical security and the necessary maintenance of a car, they do not understand the consequences of irresponsible behavior when using a computer.” – Jacqui Chen