Part of the mission of the college IT department is to warn users of potential security threats or identity theft that they may encounter through email, web sites, or any number of other methods used by those that wish to cause harm.
One type of computer threat comes in the form of phishing emails. This type of email is designed with the purpose of tricking you into divulging sensitive information such as credit card numbers, social security numbers, or passwords, which can then lead to identity theft and lots of debt. Sometimes phishing emails do not explicitly ask you for your information but instead ask you to click on a link. More often than not the link will go to a fake look alike website that will capture your keystrokes as you attempt to login. Remember; NEVER follow links in an unsolicited email or give out sensitive information in response to ANY email. You can always call the real entity that the email is “supposedly” from and ask if they sent it. The following are the phishing attempts that we have seen of late so if you get an email that is suspicious please check this list. If you do not see it please forward it to us so we can either let you know that it is legitimate or add it to the list so the next person who receives it will know as well. For more information on detecting and avoiding online scams in general please see the Online Scams Information Site Directory.
Recent Phishing messages by subject and date
New Phishing Email - 12/13/2011
Computing Status : Maintenance & Upgrade - 12/2/2011
Facebook Administration has sent you a notification - 6/24/2011
Very Important!! - 2/26/2011
Announcement - 2/10/2011
UNIVERSITY WEBMAIL MESSAGING CENTER - 1/25/2011
Account Update - 1/24/2011
Virginia Tech's Customer Support Center Notice - 1/19/2011
Webmail Quota Has Exceeded The Set Limit - 8/25/2010
Email Quota Alert - 8/23/2010
Payment Returned - 6/29/2010
YOUR MAILBOX QUOTA HAS BEEN EXCEEDED - 6/18/2010
Vt Account Verification - 4/19/2010
*** National Bank Notification ! - 4/12/2010
Attn: Email - ACCOUNT HOLDER - 3/12/2010
Warning!!! Vt.edu Webmail Subscriber, - 3/11/2010
Attn: vt.edu Webmail Subscriber - 3/9/2010
Warning!!! Account owner that refuses to upgrade his or her ccount - 3/7/2010
Phishing Alert: Your mailbox has exceeded the storage limit - 2/9/2010
You have Warn - 1/29/2010
Vt Warning Alert!! - 1/26/2010
Your mailbox has exceeded the storage limi - 1/25/2010
Maintenance schedule. Final notification from Virginia Tech - 1/20/2010
Dear mail.vt.edu Account User - 1/11/2010
Important Inforation - 10/26/2009
Virginia Tech Customer Support Center - 9/9/2009
Phish bot - 10/21/2009
Another type of computer threat comes from vulnerabilities that are discovered in the software that you have installed on your computer. This can be either the operating system itself or third party applications like Adobe products. If left unpatched these vulnerabilities typically leave your computer open to attack in one of two ways: Visiting a malicious website that has a payload waiting for you or by worms which crawl around the net just looking for an open door. Even though worms are less common they are much worse since the only prerequisite to becoming infested besides not patching is to be connected to the Internet. Either infection vector leaves you in bad shape and will more often than not require a reformat to eliminate the infestation. The following are the security alerts that have been issued by CNRE-IT in the past regarding these vulnerabilities and patches. Also, please see the Secunia Online Security Scanner link on the Security page for a great tool that scans your computer for vulnerabilities on some of the more commonly installed programs.
Recent Alert emails by subject and date
Highly Critical Update for Firefox version 3.6.x (PC & Mac) - 2/1/2012
Adobe Acrobat and Reader Highly Critical Patch - 1/11/2012
Extremely Critical Microsoft Windows Vulnerability - 12/14/2011
Extremely Critical Microsoft Windows Vulnerability - 11/4/2011
Highly Critical Java Update for Windows - 10/19/2011
Highly Critical Update for Firefox (PC & Mac) - 9/29/2011
Highly Critical Adobe Flash Player Vulnerability! - 9/22/2011
Adobe Acrobat and Reader Highly Critical Patch - 9/14/2011
Highly Critical Update for Firefox (PC & Mac) - 8/17/2011
Highly Critical Adobe Flash Player Vulnerability! - 8/11/1011
Highly Critical Java Update for the Mac - 6/29/2011
Highly Critical Update for the Mac - 6/24/2011
Adobe Acrobat and Reader Highly Critical Patch - 6/15/2011
Extremely Critical Adobe Flash Player Vulnerability! - 6/15/2011
Highly Critical Java Update for Windows - 6/8/2011
Mac's Glory Days Are Over! - 5/25/2011
Highly Critical Adobe Flash Player Vulnerability! - 5/13/2011
Bogus MacDefender malware campaign targets Mac users - 5/2/2011
Highly Critical Update for Firefox (PC & Mac) - 4/29/2011
Adobe Acrobat and Reader Highly Critical Patch - 4/22/2011
Extremely Critical Adobe Flash Player Vulnerability Patched! - 4/15/2011
Extremely Critical Adobe Flash Player Vulnerability - 4/12/2011
Highly Critical Google Chrome Vulnerabilities - 3/25/2011
Adobe Acrobat and Reader Highly Critical Patch - 3/24/2011
Extremely Critical Adobe Flash Player Vulnerability Patched! - 3/22/2011
Highly Critical Update for the Mac - 3/22/2011
Extremely Critical Adobe Flash Player Vulnerability - 3/15/2011
Unpatched Highly Critical Adobe Reader / Acrobat Vulnerability - 3/15/2011
Highly Critical Google Chrome Vulnerability - 3/14/2011
Highly Critical iDevices Update - 3/10/2011
Highly Critical Apple Safari Vulnerabilities - 3/10/2011
Highly Critical Java Update for the Mac - 3/9/2011
Highly Critical Google Chrome Vulnerabilities - 3/9/2011
Highly Critical Vulnerabilities in Apple's iTunes - 3/4/2011
Highly Critical Update for Firefox (PC & Mac) - 3/2/2011
Highly Critical Java Update for Windows - 2/18/2011
Highly Critical Adobe Flash Player Vulnerabilities - 2/9/2011
Adobe Acrobat and Reader Extremely Critical Patch - 2/9/2011
Microsoft Finally Patches Thumbnail Vulnerability in Windows XP - 2/9/2011
Extremely Critical Windows XP/Vista Thumbnail Vulnerability - 1/21/2011
New Version of Symantec Antivirus Pop Up is Legitimate - 1/13/2011
Highly Critical Google Chrome Vulnerabilities - 1/13/2011
Extremely Critical Internet Explorer Vulnerability Patched - 12/15/2010
Highly Critical Google Chrome Vulnerabilities - 12/14/2010
Highly Critical Update for Firefox (PC & Mac) - 12/9/2010
Highly Critical Update for Apple QuickTime for Windows - 12/8/2010
Highly Critical Apple Safari Vulnerabilities - 11/19/2010
Workaround Tool Available for Extremely Critical Vulnerability in Internet Explorer - 11/18/2010
Adobe Acrobat and Reader Extremely Critical Patch - 11/17/2010
Extremely Critical Adobe Flash Player Vulnerability Patched! - 11/5/2010
Highly Critical Google Chrome Vulnerabilities - 11/4/2010
Extremely Critical Vulnerability in Internet Explorer - 11/3/2010
Extremely Critical Adobe Flash Player Vulnerability - 10/28/2010
Firefox's Extremely Critical Vulnerability Patched - 10/28/2010
Stop using Mozilla Firefox (for now) - 10/27/2010
Extremely Critical Adobe Shockwave Vulnerability - 10/25/2010
Highly Critical Update for Firefox (PC & Mac) -10/21/2010
Highly Critical Java Update for the Mac - 10/21/2010
Highly Critical Java Update for Windows - 10/13/2010
Adobe Acrobat and Reader Extremely Critical Patch (finally) - 10/6/2010
Extremely Critical Adobe Flash Player Vulnerability Patched! - 9/21/2010
Highly Critical Google Chrome Vulnerabilities - 9/17/2010
Highly Critical Update for Apple QuickTime for Windows - 9/17/2010
Extremely Critical Adobe Flash Player Vulnerability - 9/14/2010
Unpatched Extremely Critical Adobe Reader - 9/8/2010
Highly Critical Apple Safari Vulnerability - 9/8/2010
Another Highly Critical Update for Firefox (PC & Mac) - 9/8/2010
Highly Critical Update for RealPlayer - 8/27/2010
Highly Critical Update for the Mac - 8/27/2010
Highly Critical Vulnerabilities in Adobe Shockwave Player - 8/25/2010
Adobe Acrobat and Reader Highly Critical Patches (finally) - 8/20/2010
Highly Critical Google Chrome Vulnerabilities - 8/20/2010
Highly Critical Update for Apple QuickTime - 8/13/2010
Highly Critical Google Chrome and Opera Vulnerabilities - 8/12/2010
Highly Critical Adobe Flash Player Vulnerability - 8/11/2010
Unpatched Highly Critical Adobe Reader / Acrobat Vulnerability - 8/6/2010
Highly Critical Vulnerability in Windows XP Fixed! - 7/27/2010
Highly Critical Google Chrome Vulnerabilities - 7/27/2010
Another Highly Critical Update for Firefox (PC & Mac) - 7/26/2010
Highly Critical Vulnerabilities in Apple's iTunes - 7/21/2010
Highly Critical Update for Firefox (PC & Mac) - 7/21/2010
Highly Critical Google Chrome Vulnerabilities - 7/6/2010
Apple iTunes Accounts Potentially Hacked - 7/6/2010
Adobe Acrobat and Reader Highly Critical Patches - 6/30/2010
Highly Critical Google Chrome Vulnerabilities - 6/25/2010
Highly Critical Update for Firefox (PC & Mac) - 6/23/2010
Highly Critical Vulnerabilities in Apple's iTunes - 6/17/2010
Highly Critical Update for the Mac - 6/16/2010
Highly Critical Vulnerability in Windows XP - 6/11/2010
Google Chrome Vulnerabilities - 6/9/1010
Highly Critical Apple Safari Vulnerabilities - 6/8/2010
Extremely Critical Adobe Flash Player Vulnerability - 6/7/2010
Highly Critical Vulnerabilities in Adobe's Photoshop CS4 - 5/27/2010
Highly Critical Java Update for the Mac - 5/19/2010
Highly Critical Vulnerabilities in Adobe Shockwave Player - 5/12/2010
Unpatched vulnerability in Apple's Safari Web Browser for Windows - 5/7/2010
Google Chrome Vulnerabilities - 4/28/2010
New Version of Symantec Antivirus For Windows - 4/23/2010
Google Chrome Vulnerabilities - 4/21/2010
Highly Critical Update for the Mac - 4/15/2010
Highly Critical Java Update for Windows - 4/15/2010
Adobe Acrobat and Reader Highly Critical Patches - 4/13/2010
Highly Critical Update for Firefox (PC & Mac) - 4/2/2010
Highly Critical Updates for Apple QuickTime and iTunes - 4/1/2010
Highly Critical Java Update for Windows - 3/31/2010
Highly Critical Java Update for Windows - 3/31/2010
Extremely Critical Vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer - 3/30/2010
Time to Update the Mac - 3/30/2010
Mozilla Firefox Update (both PC and Mac) - 3/24/2010
Google Chrome Vulnerabilities - 3/18/2010
Microsoft Office for the Mac Critical Update - 3/15/2010
Highly Critical Apple Safari Vulnerability - 3/12/2010
Extremely Critical Internet Explorer 6 & 7 Vulnerability - 3/12/2010
Unpatched Highly Critical Vulnerability in Windows - 3/2/2010
Highly Critical Adobe Download Manager Vulnerability - 3/1/2010
Mozilla Firefox Update (both PC and Mac) - 2/18/2010
Adobe Acrobat and Reader Highly Critical Patches - 2/17/2010
Adobe Flash Player and Air Vulnerabilities - 2/12/2010
Google Chrome Vulnerabilities - 2/11/2010
Extremely Critical 0-Day Internet Explorer Vulnerability - 1/22/2010
Mac update - 1/21/2010
More vulnerability stuff - 1/20/2010
Another Adobe Vulnerability! - 1/20/2010
Extremely Critical 0-Day Internet Explorer Vulnerability - 1/19/2010
Microsoft Recommendation - 1/14/2010
RE: Really Bad Adobe 0-Day Exploit - 1/14/2010
Sometimes CNRE-IT just sends out general “be careful” type warning messages regarding IT security. They typically revolve around seasonal items, special events, or even disasters. The following are the security warning messages that we have issued in the recent past.
Recent Warning emails by subject and date
Online Safety - 5/23/2011
UPS Email Alert - 3/4/2011
Recent Email Account Changes - 1/20/2011
Twitter Worm - 1/20/2011
Holiday Season Reminder - 12/1/2010
Attention Skype Users - 11/12/2010
Trojan Horse on the Mac - 10/28/2010
Black Tuesday Alert - 10/12/2010
The days of people not writing viruses for Macs are coming to a close! - 6/2/2010
Be careful of Olympic search results - 2/16/2010