Metadata Consulting [dot] ca

Tuesday, September 1, 2020

Phishing Email - RE: FYI Grant from Ridao Cindy cridao@mhhcc.org

For the record, this is a Ridao Cindy cridao@mhhcc.org phishing email attempt that is recently going around, with subject "RE; FYI Grant" What to do? Report them, goto bottom of page.

This is clever attack because the emails seems like its coming from legitimate organization.

From : Ridao, Cindy <cridao@mhhcc.org>

Subject : RE: FYI Grant

A humanitarian grant has been made to you, please contact for more information.

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information or otherwise protected by law. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message.

Disclaimer

The information contained in this communication from the sender is confidential. It is intended solely for use by the recipient and others authorized to receive it. If you are not the recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or taking action in relation of the contents of this information is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful.

This email has been scanned for viruses and malware, and may have been automatically archived by Mimecast Ltd, an innovator in Software as a Service (SaaS) for business. Providing a safer and more useful place for your human generated data. Specializing in; Security, archiving and compliance. To find out more Click Here.

PHISHING LINKs;

1. None - When you reply - email magically changes to -> ms.lerynnewest51@gmail.com

2. mhhcc.org belongs to Memorial Hospital and Health Care Center

How to tell this is a Phishing email ?

Check email address in full, if it's not from originating company then it's phishing.
Hover over all links in email, if it's not from the company's website then forget it.
The best way is to

How to examine Email Message Source ?

Now lets look at message source

Outlook.com->Actions->View Message Source.
Gmail.com->More (down arrow to top right)->Show original.

Check for suspicious links, anything that does not originate from apple.com.

Report Phishing Email (not as Spam)

Outlook.com->Junk (at Top)->Phishing Scam
Gmail.com->More (down-arrow to top right)->Report Phishing

Report Phishing

If you have recievied this email take further

https://www.google.com/safebrowsing/report_phish/

Report phishing at Microsoft and government agencies

http://www.microsoft.com/security/online-privacy/phishing-faq.aspx

Friday, August 28, 2020

How to fix new MS Edge (Chromium) downloads, which taking forever/long time to download files

I usually do not recommend downgrading security, but when using Microsoft new Edge browser to download a file, it's super slow on Windows 7 (which does not have a native MS Defender built-in). Therefore it's invoking your installed antivirus to invoke a scan, but this is super slow. This make this feature unusable. I can't wait a few minutes for a PDF to download, that I need to read now.

A good antivirus (MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A TOP ONE INSTALLED) will scan any file that hits the disk regardless, so I think this is overkill. The blocking of bad site, is also prevented with some AVs. And by good antivirus that is either Kaspersky, Bitdefender or Malwarebytes, all others provides are insufficient. Kaspersky has a browser plugin that does exactly same thing as SmartScreen.

What is SmartScreen ?

SmartScreen works by sending information about every application you download and run to Microsoft’s servers. If the application is something legitimate and fairly popular, like Google Chrome or Apple iTunes, Windows will allow it to run. If it’s something Microsoft knows is harmful, Windows will prevent it from running. But this is not entirely accurate, unsigned apps sometimes by app builders like me are not allowed to run either, but safe.

If the application is something SmartScreen isn’t familiar with, you’ll see warning message saying that Windows prevented an unrecognized app from starting. You can choose to bypass this message at your own risk, if you’re confident the application is safe.

Then, when you try to run it, Windows SmartScreen will check if the application is safe. If that’s all good, Windows Defender or whatever other antivirus you have installed will check whether the application is dangerous. SmartScreen is just another layer of protection.

The operating system level protection of antivirus works no matter where the application or file comes from.

arch result match: Microsoft Defender SmartScreen

Search result match: Help protect me from malicious sites and downloads with Microsoft Defender SmartScreen.

How to turn off Microsoft Defender SmartScreen

In settings, search for "smartscreen" and disable.

Tuesday, August 25, 2020

Phishing Email - DermaCorrect with subject Re: Naturally Remove Skin Tags Without Pain

For the record, this is a DermaCorrent phishing email attempt that is recently going around, with body title "Blog: the Best Natural Skin Tag Removal to Try Today" What to do? Report them, goto bottom of page.

From : Thank You-DermaCorrect <community@evergreen.ca>;

Subject : Re: Naturally Remove Skin Tags Without Pain