It's quite strange, we started getting a whole lot of emails claiming to be from the sciencebase webmaster, or an admin department, even had a message from a correspondent called codes, all reporting some issue with the sciencebase.com server.
You've probably seen similar messages from your own ISP.
They tend to look like this:
Dear user pedro,
It has come to our attention that your Sciencebase User Profile ( x )
records are out of date. For further details see the attached document.
Thank you for using Sciencebase!
The Sciencebase Support Team
+++ Attachment: No Virus (Clean)
+++ Sciencebase Antivirus -
www.sciencebase.com
They also come with an attachment, which on scanning with my antivirus software is quickly revealed to be an email worm. What a surprise!
So, how could I be so sure that none of these emails were really from admin@sciencebase or whoever?
Well, first off, all sciencebase.com addresses belong to me, there is no admin@, nor codes@, nor webmaster@ other than me. All addressees are also me, so anyone sending an email to pedro@sciencebase is either stupid or a 'bot, because despite my swarthy good looks [Yeah, right, Ed.] there is no Hispanic blood in the sciencebase family tree. The next line was just as much a giveaway - sciencebase doesn't have User Profiles. It's a standalone site, with no registration process for record to go out of date. Ditto, the Sciencebase Support Team. Hah! If only I had staff to fulfil such a role. Next, Sciencebase email is not checked by a server side system called Sciencebase Antivirus, but by a system with an entirely different name. I also have powerful antivirus software running on my PC, just to be all belt and braces (suspenders).
Anyway, that's my quick and dirty case study. It's quite a pain to receive so many of these, but I've shut off the necessary ports of call on the servers and the cr*p flood has eased off now.
It might not be so simple to spot the cr*p when it floods your inbox, but to stay protected from viruses, you simply must ensure that you have your antivirus software bang up to date, set to check your incoming email, and avoid opening any attachments even from people you know or that claim to come from your webmaster or an admin office. It's better to be safe than sorry, to coin another cliche, so check out this site http://scibase.microa.hop.clickbank.net for antivirus software and to get optimum protection.
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