Most scams (online and off) depend, in part, on the victim's interest in getting something for nothing. This is true for lottery scams, stock scams, and other frauds.
But a recent scam on the social networking site Facebook relies instead on trust and willingness to help friends in need.
A scammer hacked into the Facebook account of a man named Bryan Rutberg and posted an urgent message that he needed help.
Bryan's friends were fooled by the con and one even wired money to the scammer. To read the full story, see Facebook ID Theft Targets 'Friends'.
The new computer worm called Conficker has been in the news a lot lately. We'll admit that the reports can be confusing, even to us. But the most important fact about the Conficker worm is that it can be dangerous and you may be at risk if you or your computer administrator have fallen behind in security updates.
Here's what you need to know:
Today Microsoft announced a US $250,000 reward for information that results in the arrest and conviction of those responsible for illegally launching the Conficker malicious code on the Internet.
Microsoft recognizes that the Conficker worm is a criminal attack and wants to help authorities catch the criminals responsible for it. Residents of any country are eligible for the reward, according to the laws of that country, because Internet viruses affect the Internet community worldwide.
Individuals with information about the Conficker worm are encouraged to contact their respective law enforcement agency. Additionally, Microsoft has implemented an Antivirus Reward Hotline at 1-425-706-1111, and an Antivirus Reward Mailbox at avreward@microsoft.com to share tips.
For more information about the Conficker worm, see Conficker Worm: Protect Windows from Conficker.A and Conficker.B.
If your idea of Girl Scouts is cookies and lanyards, then you need to get yourself to the 21st century.
Cookies and lanyards are hardly a thing of the past, but Girl Scouts have also kept up with changing times. To help support that, Microsoft recently joined forces with Girl Scouts of the USA to help improve online safety.
The new campaign is called LMK, which stands for Let Me Know and was created by teenage girls to help girls navigate life online.
The campaign includes an interactive Web site for girls, an e-newsletter, and a Web site for adults.
For more information, see Teens are Teachers in New Internet Safety Project: Girl Scouts of the USA and Microsoft launch online safety campaign.
Microsoft releases security updates on the second Tuesday of every month. This month Microsoft released 4 security updates.
Get the updates
To download the updates, visit the Microsoft Update Web site. If you have automatic updating turned on, your computer will update and install these security updates.
Read more about the updates
To find out more about the updates, see Microsoft Security Updates for January.
Get technical information about the updates
For technical details, visit Microsoft TechNet.
As we near the second decade of the 21st century we're entrusting governments and other organizations with more and more of our personal information.
How governments and corporations manage this information is called Data Governance.
Microsoft is undergoing a company-wide Data Governance effort.
To learn more, see Trustworthy Computing: Data Governance or download Managing and Protecting Personal Information: A Microsoft Perspective on Data Governance for Privacy and Compliance.