New One To Me....

[Archie Nicol R.I.P.]

Just received this via e-mail. Don't know why. Any ideas?

` American Airlines


Customer Notification
Your bought ticket is attached to the letter as a scan document.

To use your ticket you should Download It .



Electronic Ticket Number Seat Date / Time of Departure Flight Time Arriving Ref Bag Form of payment Total Price
EH3331577027 65A/ZONE 3 20 APRIL, 2013, 10:46 PM 09:35 KnoxvilleFort EF4843 ST / OK 7PC CC 233.33 USD



Thank you for using our airline company services, AA.com Team.
American Airlines 2013 `

I'm invited to click on Download It. I won't bother.


Arch.

[Wiz Feinberg]

Archie, don't you like getting exploited by the Blackhole Exploit Kit? Go ahead, click on the poisoned link, just for fun (NOT).

If Archie had clicked on the link to see his "flight ticket," all he would have seen is his browser open to a page that said: "Loading Please Wait ... You will be forwarded..."

Immediately after that, his browser would be probed by JavaScript functions and eval statements to see if he has Java installed and if so, which version. A malware infested .jar file would be served from a Java Applet that loaded into an invisible iframe in his browser. That .jar file contains various exploit tactics embedded inside compressed executables used by the Java Virtual Machine. One of those exploits would jump out of the so called sandbox and into the operating system. His computer would become part of a botnet and Trojans would either steal his banking/PayPal/FTP credentials, and/or fake anti-virus or ransomeware would be installed. After all this, his computer would be commanded to attack other computers and servers.

Aren't ya glad you didn't click on that link, Archie?

[Wiz Feinberg]

In case Archie is still running a Mac computer and thinks it is immune to Java attacks, he should take note of this. According to the Wikipedia, Java is cross-platform, as follows.

"Write once, run anywhere" (WORA), or sometimes write once, run everywhere (WORE), is a slogan created by Sun Microsystems to illustrate the cross-platform benefits of the Java language. Ideally, this means Java can be developed on any device, compiled into a standard bytecode and be expected to run on any device equipped with a Java virtual machine (JVM). The installation of a JVM or Java interpreter on chips, devices or software packages has become an industry standard practice."

"This means a programmer can develop code on a PC and can expect it to run on Java enabled cell phones, as well as on routers and mainframes equipped with Java, without any adjustments. This is intended to save software developers the effort of writing a different version of their software for each platform or operating system they intend to deploy on."

[Archie Nicol R.I.P.]

I would never have clicked. I have not had many scam mails over the last year and this one came as a wee surprise. Thanks for the info, Wiz. Scary stuff!

Arch.