[gui-talk] Fwd: New Trojan Horse Warning

[Ray Foret Jr.]

I found absolutely nothing about this matter on:
www.grisoft.com
or
www.symantec.com
or anywhere else I looked.  None of the latest threats appear to contain the
factors shown in this message.  I am, in consequence beginning
to believe this may be a hoax.  None of the articles I found when I googled
"New Trojan Horse Impersonates Windows Reactivation Message
" had enough specificity to satisfy me as to several details.  IF a threat
is real, any legitimate article would have contained some advice or
procedure for removing it; no matter how difficult.  There was no such help
in anything I saw.  This made me suspicious.  Add to this the fact that none
of the latest threats, nor those going back to May fourth (when this was
supposedly discovered) have or contain any hint of the warning about a
Windows Reactivation message.  Therefore, I have some reason I think to
question its legitimacy.

----- Original Message ----- Sincerely yours,
The Constantly Barefooted,
Ray
Home phone and fax:
(985)853-0139
E-mail:
rforetjr at bellsouth.net
Skype Name:
barefootedray
Blog:
www.raysworld.blogs.com
Podcast .rss Feed:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/worldofray


God bless President George W. Bush!
God bless our troops!
and God bless America
From: "Steve Pattison" <srp at internode.on.net>
To: "GUI Talk" <gui-talk at nfbnet.org>; "Access-L" <access-l at access-l.com>
Sent: Tuesday, May 08, 2007 9:52 PM
Subject: [gui-talk] Fwd: New Trojan Horse Warning


From: Parker at Vip conduit Vipcomm at mchsi.com
To: VIP Announce List VIP-Announce at googlegroups.com
New Trojan Horse Impersonates Windows Reactivation Message
Barry Levine, Mon May 7, 2:04 PM ET
A new Trojan Horse is making the rounds, impersonating Windows reactivation 
and antipiracy
messages with the goal of duping users into divulging their credit card 
information.
According to computer security firm Symantec, the Trojan, dubbed 
Trojan.Kardphisher,
creates a Windows look-alike screen, headlined "Microsoft piracy control," 
and indicates
that the copy of Windows was activated by another user and needs to be 
reactivated.
"To help reduce software piracy, please reactivate your copy of Windows 
now," it
instructs. "You must activate Windows before you can continue to use it." 
The user
is given two choices: reactivating Windows over the Internet immediately or 
doing
it later. No other applications can be run, and Task Manager cannot be 
launched to
force-quit the Trojan. Yes or No? If reactivation is deferred, the system is 
shut
down. And if users proceed with the fake reactivation, a second screen 
appears, requesting
private information that includes location, contact information, a credit 
card number,
the card's expiration date and three-digit security number, and even an ATM 
PIN.
The Trojan informs the user that the credit card information will not be 
charged.
But, once entered, the information is sent to the fraud's perpetrators to 
use as
they wish. The initial screen even references an actual Microsoft antipiracy 
site:
microsoft.com/piracy.
Symantec said that the Trojan affects , , Windows Server 2003, and even 
earlier versions
of Windows, including 95, 98, and NT.
Sometimes, Windows does indeed require reactivation, such as after 
substantial hardware
upgrades, but Microsoft does not ask for financial information. The Trojan's 
request
for reactivation and its close resemblance to actual Windows screens make it 
a potentially
effective attack against some users, Symantec said.
While Symantec has posted detailed instructions on how to remove the Trojan, 
some
observers have noted that fake information can be entered to "activate" an 
infected
Windows machine when prompted, so that the Trojan could then be removed.
Trust No One
"This Trojan teaches us all a good lesson -- Trust No One," wrote Symantec's 
Takashi
Katsuki on the company's blog. "Sometimes the creators of Trojans attempt to 
impersonate
Microsoft, a bank, or even a government organization. Whatever the warning 
or message
says, we must make very sure it is genuine before giving up any personal 
details,
financial or otherwise." It is far better to doubt a genuine request until 
proper
verification is provided, Katsuki went on to say, than it is to blindly 
place your
trust in a message simply because it appears to have come from a trusted 
source.
"Sad though it may be," Katsuki wrote, "the days of leaving your front door 
unlocked
are over. In these times, we not only need a lock on the door, we need a 
security
guard watching the front door, the back door, and everywhere in between."
Created on ... May 08, 2007
Regards Steve
Email: srp at internode.on.net
Skype: steve1963
MSN Messenger: internetuser383 at hotmail.com



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