OT And so it starts! fraudulent websites

FYI to all of us who are generous and trusting!!!!!

--------------------------------------------------------

The folowing advisory is from CUNY and the NYS OFFICE OF CYBER SECURITY AND
CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE COORDINATION CYBER INFORMATION BULLETIN

DATE ISSUED: September 1, 2005

SUBJECT:

Fraudulent Websites for Hurricane Katrina Victims

OVERVIEW:

We have received information indicating that Internet domain names are being
created that could be used to lure unwary users into visiting potentially
malicious web sites.

BULLETIN:

Relief and charity efforts for the victims of Hurricane Katrina began
immediately after the hurricane devastated the Gulf Coast area. Shortly
thereafter, web sites began to appear which were designed to defraud
unsuspecting users. Some of the activities include soliciting donations for
seemingly charitable purposes, attempting to collect personal information
through phishing scams and also spreading malware to unsuspecting users.
Over the past few days, domain names that redirect users to malicious web
sites have appeared online, in addition to email scams requesting donations
for those impacted by the hurricane. While some of these sites and messages
may be legitimate, many are not. At the time of this bulletin, please be
aware that the following domains are reported to be suspicious:

katrinahelp.com

katrinacleanup.com

katrinarelief.com.

Please note that this is not an exhaustive list and additional domains may
continue to appear.

In addition to fraudulent web sites, opportunists may use this event as a
vehicle for other types of online attacks. For example, email messages that
claim to contain attachments with photos, video, or other information about
Hurricane Katrina may actually contain viruses, worms, or other malware.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

We recommend that staff be advised to:

Validate the relief fund or charity through a known reliable entity. Please
refer to the FEMA link below for a list of reputable disaster relief
resources for Hurricane Katrina.

When a message containing a request for donations for these victims appears,
do not respond unless you are certain it is a valid message.

Avoid visiting untrusted web sites.

Avoid opening email messages and attachments that claim to contain video,
photos, or other information relating to relief solicitation for Hurricane
Katrina.

Follow standard best practices for email and web browsing security.



REFERENCES:

SANS:

http://isc.sans.org/diary.php?date=2005-08-31

Washington Post:

http://blogs.washingtonpost.com/secu...a_phishin.html

Better Business Bureau:

http://www.give.org/news/disaster_pr.asp

Federal Emergency Management Agency:

http://www.fema.gov/press/2005/resources_katrina.shtm

NYS Cyber Security & Critical Infrastructure Coordination

30 South Pearl Street, Suite P2

Albany, NY 12207

(518) 474-0865

7x24 CSAC 1-866-787-4722

CSCIC PGP Public Keys are available at:
http://www.cscic.state.ny.us/securit...keys/index.htm