UGNN / UG Library / Life Online . . . . . . . . Got Newsletters? Add A Link

Beware of Links Within E-mail Messages from an Unknown Source! by Irene M. Kraus, Editor: Computer Erie Bay Users Group (CEBUG) Recently, a local user received an unsolicited e-mail message that contained a link to a website. The message was written in a manner that appealed directly to the user's interests, and he didn't think twice about following up on it. What happened next was a real-life example of what could happen to any user who access a site containing damaging elements. Here's what he said in his own words: "I clicked on a link in an e-mail ... (that) looked legitimate so I thought I would take a look. ... When I got to the website, it was a rather normal looking. Had a black background and the word "ENTER" written in blue in the center of the screen. Naturally I clicked on ENTER. In 5 seconds or less, 40 or more MSIE explorer windows were opened. Before I could react a rather nasty Java alert messaged popped up. What it said I cannot repeat here, but suffice it to say it indicated that my hard drive was doomed." The first actions the user took, to attempt to shut down MSIE by activating the Close Program dialog box (CTRL+ALT+DEL), were unsuccessful. Within that, there were many entries for MSIE which he could not terminate as fast as they were being generated. Eventually, his system froze with the blue screened "Invalid Page Fault". When he did reboot, it wouldn't come up even in Safe Mode. In DOS, he could see the Windows directory, but for some reason could not access it. Fearing that some portion of his OS (Win98) had been irreparably damaged, he did an unconditional format (FORMAT C: /U) and reinstall of it. This user reports that he had his security setting on Medium, as many of us do, and also uses Guard Dog as well. In this case, I doubt that anything could have sorted out legitimate actions from those that were damaging. It's also hard to say if it was bad ActiveX or Java that did the damage. Further, he can't even report back to anyone what the URL for the site was as he lost all of that information in the reformat of his hard drive. (Clever foresight on the part of whoever designed the site!) In hindsight, he realizes he should have just turned his computer off as soon all of those browser windows started appearing. Without knowing just what damage was caused, it's hard to say if he could have done it fast enough to prevent it. It is clear the site was created only to create mischief! I did not write this article with the intent to spread fear or alarm. Such sites are, I'm sure not very common. It is presented solely in the hope of preventing anyone else from falling prey to a similar attack. Please use caution when connecting to a website suggested by an unknown source! About the Author... Ms. Kraus has some 17 years of computer experience, including 13 years as a computer user group officer. Her computer related interests include writing, graphics & page design, and on-line messaging. She is the owner of Design COMP, and works as an Internet Marketing Consultant based in Erie County. E-mail: ikraus@accsandusky.com This article is copyright by Irene M. Kraus, and was first printed in The CEBUG Swatter, November, 1998. Author may be contacted via CEBUG, PO Box 1461, Sandusky, OH 44870-1461; or at e-mail address listed above.

UGNN / UG Library / Life Online
Got Newsletters? Add A Link

. . .