Eastern Oregon Net, Inc.
The Internet Done Right

Top Free Safety Downloads | Definitions | Online Resources
Antivirus | Hoaxes | Firewalls | General Security | Phishing/Email Scams | Popup Blockers | Privacy | Spyware

P H I S H I N G   A L E R T

EONI customers have been receiving emails asking for their EONI account information or other personal identification information.

Please note that all of these emails are fakes. These emails are what is known as "phishing." Phishing is a scam where someone is trying to gain access to your accounts or personal information. There are a number of resources to learn about phishing. The links below offer some good advice and explanations about phishing:

http://www.antiphishing.org/consumer_recs.html

CNET's November 2009 FAQ: Recognizing Phishing E-mails

Example of Bogus Phishing Email Message

While in the past, fraudulent attempts at getting your personal information were mainly aimed at imitating financial organizations (such as banks, PayPal, and similar institutions), these scams appear to be getting more widespread and targeting other companies. EONI and other Internet service providers are seeing a significant rise in these scams aimed at our customers.

Remember, EONI will NEVER ask for your password or other personal information via email. If you are ever in doubt about any communication from EONI about your account, please call us directly at either 962-7873 or our toll free number 1-800-785-7873.

If you have responded to any of the fake phishing emails and provided your password, then please contact us immediately and ask us to assign your account(s) new passwords.

Top Free Safety Downloads | Definitions | Online Resources
Antivirus | Hoaxes | Firewalls | General Security | Phishing/Email Scams | Popup Blockers | Privacy | Spyware

Introduction and Definitions

Online safety is an increasing concern for all of us. However, the Internet can be a wonderfully useful and relatively hazard-free resource provided that you exercise common sense and are armed with some basic information. We believe that the prudent Internet user should be equipped, at a minimum, with the following:

• antivirus software
• firewall protection
• spyware detection
• popup blockers
• awareness of common hoaxes or how to identify them
• password common sense
• protecting your credit

Online Resources

You may wish to consider some of the following products and resources to help keep your computing environment safe. While we do not provide free support for any third-party products such as these listed below, we have had good experiences with them, or have received positive recommendations for them from others. Please contact the publishers of these sites or manufacturers of these products for more information and support.

AntiVirus

• EONI Email Filtering Service
  Cut "spam" and harmful content off before it gets a chance to reach your inbox! Only $1 per month for your eoni.com e-mail addresses.
• Kaspersky Anti-Virus: Free Online Virus Scanner
  The Kaspersky Online Scanner uses Microsoft ActiveX technologies to scan your computer for malicious code. The scanner uses MS Internet Explorer to scan your machine while online.
• McAfee AVERT Stinger
  Tool for removing specific high-threat viruses. Not a complete antivirus solution, but useful if you already have a known infection.
• Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool
  Microsoft has released the Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool to help remove specific, prevalent malicious software from computers that are running Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Microsoft Windows XP, or Microsoft Windows 2000. The Malicious Software Removal Tool supersedes all virus-cleaner tools that were previously released by Microsoft. You can download the Malicious Software Removal Tool from the Microsoft Download Center. You can also run an online version of the tool from the Malicious Software Removal Tool Web site on Microsoft.com. To run the Malicious Software Removal Tool from either location, you must log on to your computer with an account that is a member of the Administrators group. If you are running Windows XP, you can also run the Malicious Software Removal Tool from the Windows Update Web site or by using Automatic Updates.
• Norton Antivirus
  Symantec's antivirus products
• Symantec Online Virus Check
  Requires Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher with ActiveX and Scripting enabled.
• Symantec Security Response
  advisories and information on the latest virus threats
• Trend Micro Housecall
  Online antivirus scanning
• VirusTotal
  Submit a suspicious program file to VirusTotal and it will be run against at least 17 different antivirus programs. Free service.

Computer and Internet Hoaxes

• Snopes.com
  everything from "stupid computer user" stories to virus warning hoaxes (and the occasional real warning)
• VMyths
  Truth about computer security hysteria

Firewall Software

• Firewall Debate: Hardware vs. Software
  SmallBusinessComputing.com comments on the relative merits of hardware vs. software firewalls.
• Gibson Research Utilities
  Gibson Research (founded by a member of the legendary Xerox Palo Alto Research Center) has a number of freeware firewall and security-oriented utilities such as LeakTest, ShootTheMessenger, and DCOMbobulator, as well as an online test of the security of your machine's vulnerability to the outside world.
• Zone Alarm
  software firewall to protect from intruders and unwanted outgoing transmissions. (Usually works well for home users, but can be problematic for business networks.)

General Security

• 10 dumb things users do that can mess up their computers
  From Tech Republic's '10 Things' blog
• Create effective passwords
  Microsoft's guidelines for the wrong and right way to deal with passwords
• Gibson Research Shields Up Test
  Online tests to determine Internet vulnerability of your computer to hacker attempts, file sharing, and open ports.
• Good Passwords, Better Security
  Guidelines from Linux Magazine
• Identity Theft: What, Me Worry?
  Some case histories from PC Magazine on the worst spyware scenario -- identity theft.
• Internet fraud has taken a sinister new turn
  June 2008 article on how malware can be delivered (by organized crime and others) to attack and compromise the computers of uninformed, unprepared and unsuspecting computer users.
• Internet Storm Center
  The SANS Institute tracks "Survival Time History" to show average times that an unprotected computer can be connected to the Internet before being attacked by a worm or virus -- about 20 minutes as of this writing. See the SANS guide entitled "Windows XP: Surviving the First Day." Also see lots of other useful (but often quite technical) information on this site.
• Is IE emptying your bank account?
  ZDNet's article on how you can protect yourself from keystroke-logging trojans of the kind that attacked Internet Explorer users in June 2004.
• Pretty Good Privacy (PGP)
  Use public and private key authentication to keep your information safe and secure
• Symantec Online Security Check
  Tests your computer for exposure to hackers and other online threats.

Phishing and Email Scams

• Anti-Phishing.org
  Phishing attacks involve the mass distribution of 'spoofed' e-mail messages with return addresses, links, and branding which appear to come from banks, insurance agencies, retailers or credit card companies. These fraudulent messages are designed to fool the recipients into divulging personal authentication data such as account usernames and passwords, credit card numbers, social security numbers, etc. See the Phishing Archive for examples!
• Opting into Identity Theft
  PC Magazine [7/21/04] on how "phishing" requires that you "opt-in". Read on ...
• Phishing: Spam that can’t be ignored
  From ZDNet: What is 'phishing' and how to protect yourself
• Security Tip: Support your candidate, not scammers
  Beware of phishing scams during the presidential election campaign.
• Trustwatch Toolbar
  A free toolbar (for Internet Explorer) designed to guard against fraudulent sites. Uses GeoTrust verification technology.
• Why Phishing Works
  A scholarly joint Harvard/UC Berkeley study with interesting results: "In summary, among our participants, we did not observe a relationship between scores and sex, age, educational level or experience." This link goes to an Adobe PDF document.

Popup and Content Blockers

• EONI Web Content Filtering Service
  Family friendly Internet access with no additional software to install. EONI Internet access users can use this service for just $3 per month, with no activation fee. Quotes available for company networks.
• Free Surfer
  Freeware popup blocker; very configurable over a wide range of options
• Google Toolbar with Popup Blocker
  The free Google Toolbar (a very useful browser add-on itself) now has a built-in popup blocker that you can enable. For MS Internet Explorer 5.5 and above.

Privacy

• Don't Be An Inadvertent Spammer!!!
  Learn how to send Email to undisclosed recipients without exposing email addresses of others.
• Google Yourself
  ZDNet on how and why to 'Google yourself'

Spyware Detectors

• Ad-Aware
  Detect and remove "stealth" software installed on your system without your knowledge
• Beware of Rogue Antispyware and Antipop-up products
  ZDNet comments on how to identify bogus anti-spyware
• How To Avoid Spyware
  Sound advice from PC Magazine.
• Microsoft Antispy (Beta)
  This is a new (January 2005) free, downloadable beta from Microsoft designed to detect and disable or remove offending spyware. This is a beta (a pre-lease testing version that will be followed up later by an official public release) so Microsoft does not offer formal support for it.
• PC Magazine: 11 Signs of Spyware
  Some ways to discover whether your system is infected with spyware.
• Pest Patrol
  Comprehensive information of just about every piece of known spyware and other unwelcome computer guests.
• SpyBot Search and Destroy
  Freeware detection system for finding spyware, adware, "drive-by downloads" and other troublesome software you didn't know exists
• Webroot Online Spy Audit
  This is a free online service from Webroot, a highly-regarded commercial publisher of anti-spyware and other software. This audit detects, but does not remove, spyware it finds. Fast and easy to use.
• Zone Labs Online Spy Detector
  Online service to check your system for spyware; from the publishers of the well-known software firewall, ZoneAlarm