News
Microsoft: Beware Bogus Bulletins
- By Scott Bekker
- April 08, 2003
In an otherwise light week for infrastructure security news, Microsoft
issued a reminder to customers to beware of bogus security bulletins
that look like they come from Microsoft.
The note, posted on the TechNet security site on April 3, doesn't
appear to be tied to any specific incident. "From time to time
malicious individuals circulate e-mails that purport to be a Microsoft
Security Bulletin or Patch."
Microsoft provided several clues that a bulletin is bogus:
Above all, Microsoft never attaches a patch to security e-mails or
provides a direct link to the patch (the links always refer to the
bulletin itself, which then links to the patch.) Any e-mail that says
it's from Microsoft and includes a patch or a link to a patch should be
deleted immediately.
Each patch has a digital signature. The key is published at
www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/notify.asp.
The authoritative version of each bulletin is also posted on
Microsoft's Security Web site. If there's any doubt that a bulletin is
real, check it there:
www.microsoft.com/technet/security/Default.asp.
The entire Microsoft notice, a good resource to forward to all users, is available here:
www.microsoft.com/technet/security/news/patch_hoax.asp.
About the Author
Scott Bekker is editor in chief of Redmond Channel Partner magazine.