There has been a number of concerning e-mails in the last few days containing a threat of violence and a link to evidence. The City believes these e-mails are a spoofing attack. According to SearchSecurity.com, a spoofed e-mail is the forgery of an e-mail header so that the message appears to have originated from someone or somewhere other than the actual source. Further investigation of the e-mails captured reveal:
1. A consistent message (“I'll cripple you”),
2. Confusing text (“I don't know what your name is”, yet the spammer has your e-mail address), and
3. A moving URL address (which suggests administrators are actively foiling the spam plot)
The e-mail messages did not originate from within our organization or our mail system. The spam distributors often use spoofing in an attempt to get recipients to open, and possibly even respond to, their solicitations. You should not respond to, or click on any information contained in e-mail messages where you are unfamiliar with or question the sender. Doing so, could result in computer virus or other harmful interactions to your computer.
the message that was posted on a couple blogs is a very large spoof attack which carries a virus. it is not directed toward any particular person. if you receive an email that has these things in its body, delete it immediately.
