Q: What's worse than a tacky tie for Father's Day?

Posted by kent on June 17th, 2009

A: A malicious .exe file.

Father's Day is coming up, and web-connected children everywhere will be sending their fathers ecards instead of the paper variety. Electronic cards are quicker, easier, cheaper, and don't pose the risk of paper cuts. Actually, ecards are never actually sent. The ecard sits on a website, and the recipient is notified of its existence via an email that links to the ecard's location. Unfortunately, a number of fathers will be receiving ecard notifications sent, not by their well-meaning kids, but by malicious hackers.

These malicious email notifications may look completely legitimate, down to seemingly authentic graphics and email addresses from well-known sites like Hallmark or BlueMountain, but that doesn't mean they are. Here are some thinks to look out for:

1. Check to see if the notification mentions an actual recipient that you know. If it says that a "friend" or "loved one" has sent you an ecard, it's probably not real.

2. Look for inconsistencies, as in this real example: an email claimed to be from hallmark.com, but notified the recipient that the card was waiting at hallmark.co.uk. Also look for spelling and grammatical errors, since hackers spend more time writing code than they do on correct spelling.

3. The dead giveaway is usually the link. If you're suspicious, don't open the link. Instead, you should copy and paste it into a text pad (usually this is done with the right-click on your mouse). If the link points to anything other than what you think it should, don't open it. A nefarious link will often go to right to an .exe file, and ecards should never be .exe files.

It's important to point out that hackers change their methods often. Even an email notification that passes the above test could be a ploy. As always, we suggest having top-notch anti-virus software installed. You can always check out our Internet security reviews and comparison chart.