Net Idea News

We have been advised that there is an email that made it out to several Net Idea customers before our Antivirus system caught it. This email looks rather convincing that it is us. It claims that your computer has been compromised, and is being used as a spam proxy. It further claims that you have to open the attached file to either “Fix” this issue or “Diagnose” your computer. This attachment is a virus. Do not Open these files.

The Net Idea will never issue emails such as this. We especially will not send out attachments in any of our emails, unless we have made previous arrangements with the client. Although some computers do in fact get compromised by Worms and other forms of Malware, we deal with you personally, over the phone, when it happens. We are committed to providing the best possible service we can, and we take your Computer and Network security seriously. You are always welcome to contact us, should you receive anything suspicious, and / or wish to confirm the validity of an email.

Please be advised that the email sample as provided below, and any variation to it is a complete scam.  The file the email contains is not a log of your activities, but rather a virus that will infect a Windows based computer.  The virus is most likely a Trojan Horse that would permanently compromise your computer’s security.  The Net Idea does not monitor your service in this fashion, and only would for the purpose of assisting law enforcement execute a warrant.  Please disregard any message that is similar to the sample provided below:

From: ICS Monitoring Team [mailto:user@domain.com]
Sent: September 11, 2008 12:49 PM
To: client
Subject: Your internet access is going to get suspended

Your internet access is going to get suspended

The Internet Service Provider Consorcium was made to protect the rights of
software authors, artists.
We conduct regular wiretapping on our networks, to monitor criminal acts.

We are aware of your illegal activities on the internet wich were
originating from

You can check the report of your activities in the past 6 month that we have
attached. We strongly advise you to stop your activities regarding the
illegal downloading of copyrighted material of your internet access will be
suspended.

Sincerely
ICS Monitoring Team

Please be advised the new 778 area code comes into effect province wide and the grace period is now over. 10 Digit Dialing is now mandatory, therefore you MUST HAVE THE 250 AREA CODE in your Dial up settings. We have had excellent response over the last few weeks, and customers are changed to the new dialing procedure very quickly. Please do not hesitate to call us right away if you haven’t set your dial up connection. Phone lines are open 9:00 to 5:30 Monday through Friday. If you are unable to call during normal business hours, a step by step instruction sheet can be sent to you via email, standard mail or fax. Please email tech@netidea.com, and be sure to provide your name, phone number, the method you want the instructions sent, and version of Operating System used on all your systems. (For example: Windows XP SP2, Mac OSX 10.4.11)
The Net Idea is committed to providing you with the best service possible. We realize that our Dial up Customers face more difficult challenges with respect to maintaining their Computers’ security and integrity. Downloads have become a lot larger, and can take forever to complete on your computer. We are rolling out a new Maintenance service starting September 2, 2008. This service will be provided in 2 tiers which will cover a wide range of issues. The service will involve updating all of your essential system software, and security software, plus hardware and software diagnostics. The advanced tier of service will include a system cleaning, and complimentary backup of important documents to DVD-ROM.

This service will be available to Apple and PC systems. PC’s must be running Windows XP or later. Apple Computers must be running OSX 10.3.x or better. We can accomodate all flavours of LINUX. Please call Our Office for more details, or to schedule an appointment.

Howdy Folks!

It appears that someone is getting rather aggressive against our Network, and is issuing another round of “Account Update” emails. Please note that we would never send out an email such as this, and you can always delete this type of message, even if it appears to come from us. We email you your invoices regularly, and any other information upon request only. We will always address you by name, and sign our emails with our names, with the exception of Invoices. As always, you can call us if you have any questions regarding an email you receive and are suspicious of. We are here to serve you, and to assist you in having a safe and enjoyable time on the Internet.

We are looking at implementing a more aggressive filter to stop these guys but the trick to it is to not interrupt legitimate email transmission. So please bear with us as we work to solve the problem.

Banks, eBay, and PayPal customers experience the same type of emails. This type of spam is called a Phishing e-mail. Phishing is actually a digital form of identity theft. In fact some of these guys are so sophisticated, they can duplicate standard emails including the logo and format of the company they are trying to impersonate. Many people fall victim to phishing with drastic results. The best defense is knowledge, and education, which I am proud to say, our Net Idea Customers shine in this area. The last phishing attack that was reported on our website only resulted in 4 email accounts being compromised. Many thanks to those that report in suspicious emails.

We understand these types of emails are a nuisance, and we are working hard to effectively block phishing attacks such as our most recent ones. Please contact us if you have any questions. If you would like simple step by step instructions for how to create your own filter to weed these types of emails out, email curtis@netidea.com. Be sure to provide your Operating system type including the version (e.g. Windows XP SP3, Max OSX 10.4.11, etc), and the name of the software you use for email (e.g. Outlook Express, Mac Mail, etc).

Over the next 4 weeks we will be asking questions in relations to our carbon foot-print and the habits we have.  We hope this will be an annual poll series where we can see how our habits change as we experience rises in inflation, fuel costs, cost of living, and becoming more environmentally conscious.

Please choose the answer that closely suits your circumstance.  We also encourage participation in this, so tell your friends and relatives.  Our goal is to have 500 participants per week.

Please be advised that there is a malicious email circulating that appears to originate from us here at Net Idea. This is an attempt to gain personal information in order to compromise our Network Security, as well as your email address, and can be used to send out spam emails. We are aware of the situation, and are working towards blocking the offending emails. Customers are advised to not reply to any emails that ask for your personal information, and encourage you to contact us regarding any suspicious emails. Below are sample copies of the emails reported so far:

To:
Subject: Account Update

Dear Netidea email account owner,This message is Netidea message center at all Netidea mail account owners.

We are modernizing our database and e-mail center. We
the removal of all are not used Netidea mail account to create more space for new accounts.To avoid having your account from the fence, you will need to update below to we know that this is an account currently used.

Confirm your email address below

Username E-mail: ……..
Email Password: ……..
Date of birth: ………
Country or territory: ……

Attention! Account holder who refuses to update his account within
Seven days after receiving this warning willlose his account permanently.Thank you for using Netideal!Thank you,
Netidea team Netidea.com BETA

___________

Reply-To:
Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2008 14:25:11 -0700
Subject: Notice From Net Idea Inc (Please Read)

Dear Net Idea, Inc Webmail Subscribers,

This is to formally notify you that we are presently working on the WestPAnet, Inc and this can close your webmail account with Net Idea Web Mail Inc completely.

To avoid this, please send your
Surname:
Password:
to Net Idea Web Mail Inc customer care email
address:customercare_netidea@yahoo.com

Please do this,so your Net Idea Web Mail Inc Webmail account can be protected from being close from spam/phishing emails.

Your immediate response is highly needed.

Customers using Windows XP and above may be experiencing problems accessing websites.  Microsoft has issued a security update that apparently fixes an issue with DNS.  DNS is the ability to communicate with a server to translate a web address into its numerical network address.  There is a known conflict with the Zone Alarm Firewall application.  Until Microsoft issues a patch, or ZoneLabs updates the Zone Alarm application, it is recommended to just disable the firewall.  Customers not behind a router, or hardware based firewall should ensure the Windows Firewall is enabled.

This may not fix the problem entirely, and we are investigating other possible causes.  Please bear with us as we work to solve this problem.  Updates to this issue will be posted here.

Please be advised that due to recent electrical storms service on our network is disrupted.  Currently VFI Wireless customers on the North Shore and parts of Fairview are experiencing a full outtage.  Technicians are working to resolve the issue.

PLEASE BE ADVISED - Through the course of repairs to our VFI system there may be unexpected outages on other services, including Dial Up, Email, and ADSL.  We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, however it is vital to restore affected systems ASAP.

Please bear with us as we conduct these repairs.  As always we will do our utmost to reduce any disruptions in services.  We will post updates to this message as repairs progress.

Happy Birthday Canada!

Office Open Monday, June 30, 9:00 to 5:30

Our Office will be CLOSED, Tuesday July 1.

Office resumes normal hours, Wednesday, July 2.

Hope you have an excellent day.

We apologize for the inconvenience of our Mail server bring down.  This was the result of complications from a critical security update.  I have the server back up and running and is being monitored by 2 technicians tonight.  We will address any outages that occur.  We would like you to simply bear with us, and check for status updates on this site, or on our voicemail system at 1-888-352-3512.

Thank you for your cooperation, and we hope to have this resolved permanently.