The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has become aware of e-mails appearing to be sent from the FDIC that are asking recipients to download and open a "personal FDIC insurance file" to check their deposit insurance coverage. These e-mails are fraudulent and were not sent by the FDIC. The FDIC is attempting to identify the source of the e-mails and disrupt the transmission.
Currently, the subject line of the fraudulent e-mails includes the wording "check your Bank Deposit Insurance Coverage." The e-mails state: "You have received this message because you are a holder of a FDIC-insured bank account. Recently FDIC has officially named the bank you have opened your account with as a failed bank, thus, taking control of its assets."
The e-mails ask recipients to "visit the official FDIC website" by clicking on a hyperlink provided, which appears to be related to the FDIC and directs recipients to a fraudulent Web site. The Web site includes hyperlinks that appear to open forms. However, it is believed that clicking on the hyperlinks will cause an unknown executable file to be downloaded. While the FDIC is working with the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) to determine the exact effects of the executable file, recipients should consider the intent of the software as a malicious attempt to collect personal or confidential information, some of which may be used to gain unauthorized access to online banking services or to conduct identity theft. Financial institutions and consumers should NOT access the Web site or download the executable files provided on the Web site.
Information about counterfeit items, cyber-fraud incidents and other fraudulent activity may be forwarded to the FDIC's Cyber-Fraud and Financial Crimes Section, 550 17th Street, N.W., Room F-3054, Washington, D.C. 20429, or transmitted electronically to alert@fdic.gov. Information related to federal deposit insurance or consumer issues should be submitted to the FDIC using an online form that can be accessed at http://www2.fdic.gov/starsmail/index.asp.
For your reference, FDIC Special Alerts may be accessed from the FDIC's website at www.fdic.gov/news/news/SpecialAlert/2009/index.html. To learn how to automatically receive FDIC Special Alerts through e-mail, please visit www.fdic.gov/about/subscriptions/index.html.
Sandra L. Thompson
Director
Division of Supervision and Consumer Protection
tcs has sent you a link to a post on Gizmodo:
Title: Acer AS1410 Notebook Is Netbook-Sized and Netbook-Priced
Link: http://gizmodo.com/5385426/acer-as1410-notebook-is-netbook+sized-and-netbook+priced
tcs says: acer netbook
tcs has sent you a link to a post on Gizmodo:
Title: Barnes & Noble's Dual-Screened Nook: $260, Eats the Kindle's Lunch
Link: http://gizmodo.com/5385938/barnes--nobles-dual+screened-nook-260-eats-the-kindles-lunch
tcs says: Kindle or B&N Nook?
There is 802.16d and 802.16e, and in a year or two, we will have 802.16m. The IEEE is now working on a new wireless standard called 802.16m, and the group entrusted with developing it hopes it
Starting October 6, there has been a massive phishing attack targeting Gmail, Yahoo, AOL and other type "gmail" accounts.
The most recent list of compromised accounts, which includes login credentials for Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, Earthlink, and Comcast users, contains some accounts that appear to be old, unused, or fake. However, many others listed are, in fact, genuine.
The website where the accounts were posted - pastebin.com - is now "down for maintenance." Visitors to the site today will receive a message that reads:
Pastebin.com is getting an unprecedented amount of traffic due to a news story in which some leaked Hotmail passwords have been pasted on this site
Pastebin.com was intended as a tool to aid software developers, not for distributing this sort of material. Filters have been put in place to prevent reoccurrence, but the current traffic level is unsustainable.
Regardless of whether or not you think your account was compromised, today would be a good day to change the password on whichever webmail service you currently use. Better safe than sorry!
Also... as always, remember, don't fall for any email solicitations asking for your user id's and passwords, or any personal information!!! And, better yet, if you don't think the email looks legit; don't even open it.
As a side note... my credit card company contacted me this week and sent out new cards because they were compromised. Thousands of accounts were hacked. Good news is my credit card company is always on the ball and quick to freeze compromised accounts and issue new cards.... but be advised.... it's only going to get worse, so watch yourself and your electronic transactions!
Every month since its launch<http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/05/31/go-bing-yourself-right-now/>, Microsoft's Bing search engine keeps taking a little bit of market share. In August, Bing gained 0.4 percent to end the month with 9.3 percent of search query volumes in the U.S., according to comScore's Qsearch estimates. Meanwhile, Google's share came down 0.1 percent to 64.6 percent and Yahoo/s remained flat at 19.3 percent.
U.S. Core Search Share, August 2009 (Source: comScore qSearch)
Google
64.6%
-0.1% m/m
+1.3% y.y
Yahoo
19.3%
0.0% m/m
-0.4% y/y
Microsoft
9.3%
+0.4% m/m
+0.9% y/y
AOL
3.0%
-0.01% m/m
-1.3% y/y
Ask
3.9%
0.03% m/m
-0.4% y/y
FCC to propose new net neutrality rules<http://lists.fiercemarkets.com/c.html?rtr=on&s=69l,18z71,238p,bdig,bg6l,ljqy,5l08>
By Sean Buckley
[cid:image001.gif@01CA3AB0.0D419F60]<http://lists.fiercemarkets.com/c.html?rtr=on&s=69l,18z71,238p,3tzx,hv0u,ljqy,5l08#comment>Comment<http://lists.fiercemarkets.com/c.html?rtr=on&s=69l,18z71,238p,3tzx,hv0u,ljqy,5l08#comment> | [cid:image002.jpg@01CA3AB0.0D419F60] <http://lists.fiercemarkets.com/c.html?rtr=on&s=69l,18z71,238p,7w3m,9kf5,ljqy,5l08> Forward<http://lists.fiercemarkets.com/c.html?rtr=on&s=69l,18z71,238p,7w3m,9kf5,ljqy,5l08>
Julius Genachowski is set to make one of his first big moves as FCC chairman today with the introduction of a new set of net neutrality rules that will give users the right to get free and equal access to any bandwidth-intensive service. Industry sources say the new FCC rules, which will in effect prevent telecom giants AT&T, Verizon and cable MSO Comcast from being able to throttle or slow down specific Web sites, will pass today.
The new FCC rules will include a mandate that service providers will have to disclose how they manage their network traffic, or what it is called a "sixth principle" to the four previous rules that were created in 2005 for Internet operations. Genachowski will also unveil a "fifth principle" that would prevent service providers from discriminating against applications and services that traverse telecom, cable and wireless-based Internet networks.
Not surprisingly, AT&T, Verizon and Comcast refused to comment on the proposed rules. Net neutrality has been a sticky issue between the FCC and Comcast. The MSO is appealing a previous FCC action barring it from rate limiting Internet user's bandwidth consumption on its network.
Some industry groups, however, believe the rules will actually hinder and not help consumers. "We believe that this kind of regulation is unnecessary in the competitive wireless space as it would prevent carriers from managing their networks -- such as curtailing viruses and other harmful content -- to the benefit of their consumers," said Chris Guttman-McCabe, vice president of regulatory affairs for CTIA, the wireless industry's trade group in an interview<http://lists.fiercemarkets.com/c.html?rtr=on&s=69l,18z71,238p,d5xy,1tw6,ljqy,5l08> with the Wall Street Journal.
If the rules are passed, customers of Google and other upstart application providers will be able to run their applications freely over any existing wireline or wireless broadband network or device. "Be they entrepreneurs or innovators or consumers or less powerful voices, a principle on transparency is about knowing how large carriers manage traffic on networks and understanding how their content will be treated ahead of time so no one is surprised," said a source at the agency in a Washington Post article<http://lists.fiercemarkets.com/c.html?rtr=on&s=69l,18z71,238p,ep3j,fg6s,ljqy,5l08>.
For more:
- Washington Post has this article<http://lists.fiercemarkets.com/c.html?rtr=on&s=69l,18z71,238p,ep3j,fg6s,ljqy,5l08>
By Lynnette Luna
[cid:image001.gif@01CA35E2.8E2F3560]<http://lists.fiercemarkets.com/c.html?rtr=on&s=69l,18uid,8mf,alnr,ebfs,4gf9,ikim#comment>Comment<http://lists.fiercemarkets.com/c.html?rtr=on&s=69l,18uid,8mf,alnr,ebfs,4gf9,ikim#comment> | [cid:image002.jpg@01CA35E2.8E2F3560] <http://lists.fiercemarkets.com/c.html?rtr=on&s=69l,18uid,8mf,9sq8,224w,4gf9,ikim> Forward<http://lists.fiercemarkets.com/c.html?rtr=on&s=69l,18uid,8mf,9sq8,224w,4gf9,ikim>
Are you pinching yourself? The IEEE has finally approved the 802.11n wireless LAN standard--three years after the Wi-Fi Alliance began certifying Draft N products and six after the first draft version of the standard and multiple draft versions.
The new wireless networking standard--designed to offer 300 mbps and higher in throughput speeds--will work with the existing W-Fi Certified Draft N wireless products. When the alliance began certifying Pre N products, it had the assurance that all of the hardware specifications wouldn't change and any updates would be software in nature. According to the Wi-Fi Alliance the majority of the existing draft standard equipment can be updated via firmware.
The move, however, raises the comfort level of enterprises that can now deploy standardized equipment. Other vendors are touting the new standard as a way for companies to raise the bar on outdoor WiFi networks, which in the past fell short of technical capabilities when it came to the promise of muni-WiFi.
WiMAX Forum launches global roaming program
January 21, 2009 - 7:59pm ET | By Lynnette Luna<http://www.fiercebroadbandwireless.com/author/lluna>
The WiMAX Forum has launched its Global Roaming Program designed to enable operators and vendors to obtain the information they need to establish WiMAX roaming services. The program includes documents such as technical specifications, a test plan, roaming contract templates and a guide to follow when enacting roaming.
John Dubois, global roaming director with the WiMAX Forum, told FierceBroadbandWireless that roaming will be a critical element for more ubiquitous coverage. "We'll see roaming be more domestic and regionally initially, and that will help operators such as those in Taiwan, where the licenses were given to cover only half of the country. They need roaming to create a continuous service across the country," he said.
The WiMAX Forum is also working with the CDMA Development Group to enable roaming between WiMAX and CDMA as Sprint and Clearwire desire to marry Sprint's 3G CDMA network with Clearwire's WiMAX systems.
In November, Airspan and U.K. operator Freedom4 demonstrated a seamless handoff between WiMAX networks that operate on different spectrum bands. The companies say the accomplishment is significant as users will be able to roam from one operating network to another, such as between a licensed Clearwire 2.5 GHz network and a license-free 3.65 GHz network. Operators will have the option to deploy a mobile WiMAX network using more than one frequency band.
For more:
- check out the WiMAX Forum's web site<http://www.wimaxroaming.org/>
acebook 
witter
Shorty after President Obama finished his speech about healthcare earlier tonight, our reader Roy received an email advising him to sign up for a "Low Income Healthcare Enrollment". If you see something similar, let us know. The possibilities for phishing, malware and other scams are endless with current events like this.
As usual, you will not receive an e-mail from a government agency asking you to divulge your private information on a random website.
------
Johannes B. Ullrich, Ph.D.
SANS Technology Institute
Twitter
There is a Vonage scam out to get you to enter your account information.
There are two new active bank phishings going on, so beware of emails asking you to log in to a site and enter your bank issued credit card info to "keep it from expiring". Bank of America and Wachovia.
tcs
Proposed legislation introduced in April gave the President the power to "declare a cybersecurity emergency and order the limitation or shutdown of internet traffic to and from a compromised federal government or critical infrastructure information system or network.......
http://www.sans.org/newsletters/newsbites/newsbites.php?vol=11&issue=69&rss=Y#sID200
--
This article was sent using my Viigo.
For a free download, go to http://getviigo.com
Sent for tcstover from Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has warned of malicious email messages that appear to be from the DHS Division of Intelligence.......
http://www.sans.org/newsletters/newsbites/newsbites.php?vol=11&issue=67&rss=Y#sID306
--
This article was sent using my Viigo.
For a free download, go to http://getviigo.com
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T for Treasure Stover
Microsoft has temporarily suspended the Attach-Photo feature in Hotmail because of security issues.......
http://www.sans.org/newsletters/newsbites/newsbites.php?vol=11&issue=67&rss=Y#sID311
--
This article was sent using my Viigo.
For a free download, go to http://getviigo.com
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T for Treasure Stover
Of late, we've heard of various email phishing scams, all looking as if they come from a legitimate source. They are scams and usually require you to click on some link or open an attachment. No bank or credit card company would ever have you confirm information via an email.
Current phishing type scams: Bank of America, Chase, Paypal
Posts
All Comments
