A:. A malicious .exe file
DayFather is coming, and children connected to the web everywhere will send ecards their fathers instead of the variety of paper. E-cards are faster, easier, cheaper, and do not pose the risk of paper cuts. In fact, e-cards are never actually sent. The ecard is on a Web site, and the recipient is informed of its existence via e-mail that refers to the location of the ecard. Unfortunately, a number of fathers will receive notifications ecard, not by their children well-meaning, but by malicious hackers.
These notifications malicious email can seem quite legitimate to apparently authentic graphics and e-mail addresses from well known sites like Hallmark or BlueMountain, but that does not mean they are . Here are some thought to look out for:
1. Check whether the notification mentions an actual recipient that you know. If she says that a "friend" or "loved" has sent you an ecard, it's probably not real.
2. Look for inconsistencies, as in this real example: e-mail claimed to be from hallmark.com but advised the recipient that the card expected hallmark.co.uk. Also look for spelling and grammatical errors, because hackers spend more time writing code than they do on the correct spelling.
3. The dead giveaway is usually the link. If you have doubts, do not open the link. Instead, you must copy and paste it into a text block (usually this is done with the right click on your mouse). If the link points to other than what you think it should, do not open anything. A harmful link often go right into an .exe file and e-cards should never be .exe files.
It is important to note that hackers are changing their methods often. Even notified by e-mail that passes the above test could be a ploy. As always, we suggest having a top anti-virus software installed. You can always view our security advisory on the Internet and the comparison chart.