Pigs Can Fly and the ‘X-Files’ Are True – in your dreams.

This article by Ed Gibson, Chief Security Advisor to Microsoft was sent to me today and I post it here as a sort of end of year warning to all those hopeful internet users who somehow think that scams and frauds will never apply to them.

Ed has an informative writing style laced with pleanty of cynicism and I hope that you all find his stuff interesting and helpful.

A few days ago we read about the US$50 billion (£38 billion) advance fee scheme run by the former chairman of NASDAQ, Bernard Madoff. Investment Securities International Limited, in London, was one of his operations.

We didn’t need to read any tea leaves to know that the age old questions will again be asked: “How could this happen?”; “Where were the regulators?”; “How could reputable companies and institutions have been taken in?” The character references we hear about this Madoff remind me of the interviews with neighbours living next to a murderer following his arrest: “He was such a nice person. We would have dinners at his home.”

Let’s get real. We all know how this happened. White-collar criminals are the best in the game. Having investigated scores of massive complex fraud schemes during my career as an FBI agent, there was always one common thread. They gave what their victims wanted: hope. A couple of them even wrote to me from their prison cells because I gave them what they craved: attention.

So this begs the question, has the fat lady sung, as far as fraud is concerned? And that’s why I am once again going to print my list of online things for you to stay away from no matter how good they might look.

– Banks will never ask you to verify your account details. They already have your details.

– MySpace, Bebo, Facebook and all other social network sites are open by default. Unless you want everyone looking at your site, never use it until you make it private. Go into settings and follow the instructions. See http://www.safesocialnetworking.com.

-The same goes for Instant Messenger– …if you don’t know the person, don’t add them as a contact.

– Microsoft has not and never will hold a lottery.

– You know if you have relatives in Nigeria or West Africa. Never ‘help’ someone you don’t know move money from a foreign country. It makes you a criminal.

– Never click a hyperlink in an email from someone you don’t know. Be wise. Unless you know who is sending you the online birthday or Christmas card, never click on it, it’s loaded with malware or will redirect you somewhere you don’t want to go. Criminals frequently abuse the ‘Hallmark’ name because it is so recognisable. If your name is not in the body of the email, do not click on it.

– Wireless Internet. Make sure your wireless internet is secure (WEP is okay, WPA is better) and if you don’t know what these terms mean, read the instructions that came with your wireless device. If that fails, do not use your wireless internet until you find a trusted advisor to fix it (generally your neighbour’s 8 or 9 year old kid).

– There is no such thing as a free lunch. Never reply to email requests for charitable contributions. Call the charity yourself if you want.

– If there is a free lunch it’s because you are going to pay for it. Never reply to pop up ads telling you to run free anti-spyware or anti-malware to get rid of spyware or viruses. You can be certain they will ‘find’ bad stuff on your computer requiring you to buy what they want to sell OR they will load stealth software onto your computer to steal what’s important to you.

– Never think you are smarter than the criminal. You may be, but if you reply, you lose. You will always lose.

– Falling in love at first sight does happen, ….. but falling in love online, whether in Second Life (http://www.secondlife.com) or another online virtual world, can be dangerous. Ask yourself, seriously, why this gorgeous person is so interested in you.

Happy holidays everyone! See you in 2009. As always, I look forward to hearing from you at [email protected]

EDWARD P GIBSON
Chief Security Advisor
Microsoft Ltd UK
http://edgibsontilii.spaces.live.com – my blog about life and my own ramblings.

Sound advice from Ed I’m sure you”ll agree. If you’re into New Year resolutions, how about making some of Ed’s tips amongst them?