AOL AIM Users Beware

If you are a user of AOL's instant message product AOL, you will probably receive a message claiming that your account has been made inactive and that you need to download and launch the latest update for AIM. It is entirely possible that you will get one of these messages even if you don't have an AIM account (I did).

IGNORE and DELETE this message right away.

Here is the body of one of these messages (Any active links in the messages have been disabled):

Dear AIM user,

Your AIM account is flagged as inactive. Within the following 72 hours it’ll be deleted from the system.

If you plan to use this account in the future, you have to download and launch the latest update for the AIM. This update is critical.

In order to install the update use the following link. This link is generated exclusively for your account and is available within a certain period of time. As soon as this link is not available anymore you will get another letter.

Thank you,

AIM Service Team

This e-mail has been sent from an e-mail address that is not monitored. Please do not reply to this message. We are unable to respond to any replies.

A quick peek at the message source shows that clicking on the contained link to download will actually hook you with update.aol.com.hasdxzzw.im. The key part here is hasdxzzw.im - this is a domain supposedly registered through a registrar on the Isle of Man. Highly unlikely that they have anything to do with AOL or AIM.

For the record, the proper link to download valid AIM software is http://products.aim.com/windows.

Surf Safe!

IE Security Woes

That more security flaws have been found and exploited with Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser is hardly news. That these new flaws have played a major negative role in a potentially nasty diplomatic event is news.

To recap, Google has recently announced that they are considering pulling out of China "following a "sophisticated and targeted" cyber attack originating from the country" [read more]. Needless to say, this has generated more than a little concern within the Chinese and U.S governments as well as on the Internet. The fact is that hack attacks believed to originate from Chinese sources against industry and government sources is nothing new. What makes this attack newsworthy, besides the target, is the revelation that flaws in Microsoft's Internet Explorer was an integral factor in making the attacks possible.

"Based upon our investigations, we have determined that Internet Explorer was one of the vectors used in targeted and sophisticated attacks against Google and possibly other corporate networks," said Microsoft's director of security response Mike Reavey in the post. [read more]

What can you do to avoid becoming a victim of hackers exploiting Internet Explorer flaws? The simplest solution is not use IE. There are alternative browsers available. Most noteworthy of these is Firefox.

While antivirus and firewall products are great protective tools, it is important that you use relatively secure programs, as well. And never forget that the single most important security component is YOU.

Surf safe!

UPDATE January 17, 2010: The German government is now warning users of any version of Microsoft Internet Explorer internet to find an alternative browser [read more].

Cutting Into Spam

Does it seem as if you are receiving more and more spam every day? Is your inbox becoming clogged with messages promoting cheap drugs, sex videos, offshore pharmacies, Viagra, get rich schemes, body part enlargements, work at home scams guaranteed to make you wealthy in 2 weeks and so on and so forth?

There are some simple steps that anyone can take to cut into the flood of spam. Individually, each step helps but if layered together, your control over spam drastically increases.

1. If you have choices, deal with a service provider that provides some level of spam filtering. While hardly foolproof, this is a good start.

2. Do not use your primary personal email address when registering on web sites. Use a free email account from gmail, yahoo or hotmail. Best of all, if this free address becomes spam clogged, you can simply stop using it and create a new address.

3. Even if your ISP provides spam filtering, you can add a layer of protection by using personal spam filtering tools. Some of these tools function as a plugin for your favorite email client, others work as stand alone programs. There are many free and paid products available but be sure that you are are dealing with a reputable source such as CNET Download.com.

4. Do not reply to any spam messages including the 'unsubscribe' message that is usually found at the bottom of the message. All this does is confirm to the spammer that yours is a valid email address that is being read.


Spam is never going to go away. For every spammer that we shut down, another one crawls out from the sewers. But you do not have to be a victim, you can fight back.