Network World Extra: 12 changes that would give US cybersecurity a much needed kick in the pants

The three scam-mails are:

• Fraudulent e-mail claiming to be from Department of Homeland Security and the FBI Counterterrorism Division. Fraudulent e-mails containing the subject line "New DHS Report" have been circulating since August 15, 2009. The e-mails claim to be from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the FBI Counterterrorism Division. The e-mail text contains information about "New Usama Bin Ladin Speech Directed to the People of Europe," and has an attachment titled "audio.exe." The attachment is purportedly an audio speech from Bin Ladin; however, it actually contains malicious software intended to steal information from the recipient's system.

• Fraudulent e-mail message claiming to contain a confidential FBI report titled "New Patterns in Al-Qaeda Financing" has been circulating since August 15, 2009. The e-mail has the subject line "Intelligence Bulletin No. 267," and contains an attachment titled "bulletin.exe." This message, or similar messages, may contain files that are harmful to the recipient’s system and may try to steal user credentials.

• A fraudulent e-mail, initially appearing around June 16, 2009, claims to contain a confidential FBI report from the FBI "Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate." The subject line of the email is "RE: Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate," and contains an attachment "reports.exe". This message and similar messages may contain a file related to the "W32.Waledac" trojan software, which is designed to steal user authentication credentials or send spam messages.