a public service announcement
Family and Friends:
In the last couple of days, you might have gotten a really convincing-looking “breaking news” email from MSNBC or CNN; even if you haven’t signed up for CNN or MSNBC news alert emails…
A word of warning about these emails; They’re completely and utterly bogus, and if you follow the links they provide, will install nasty malware on your system that might compromise your data, or give spammers back door into your machine.
I normally don’t bother warning you about these things, since I know you’re not indiscriminately clicking links in emails you don’t expect to receive (because it’s a bad idea, right? RIGHT???); but this one’s widespread enough (hoodwinking a number of folks in my office this morning) to warrant a mention.
So, if you get a mystery email alert about Liz Taylor being murdered or some other sensationalist headline, offering to show you a video that requires a download, just delete the thing and save yourself a lot of trouble.
A helpful hint for the future: if you see a link in a web page or an email, and want to be sure where it’s going to send you, hover your mouse over it, and then look at the bottom of the window you’re in – you’ll see the URL where the link points (For example, if you hover over this link and look to the bottom of your browser window, you’ll see that it points you to the excellent web comic xkcd). If a link doesn’t match up with where it says it’s going, or looks otherwise shady, DON’T CLICK IT!
This has been today’s public service announcement; enjoy the rest of your day.
