Georgia Tech campus community,

Over the last several weeks, the Office of Information Technology has seen an increase in phishing attacks via the Greeting Card virus. The typical user will receive an email entitled You've received a greeting card, or some variation thereof. Inside the email is a link that, when clicked, installs malware on the user's computer (more on this below).

We would like to remind users NOT to click on links in email messages unless the user is sure of the identity of the sender and/or embedded link. If you received a message in your OIT Zimbra account that you suspect is spam or a phishing attack, please use the Junk Mail marking tool in Zimbra to mark the message as spam:

From the My GaTech (http://mail.gatech.edu) web
client, simply select the message, and click the Junk
button on the tool bar above.

The malware starts what appears to be a legitimate application called XP SecurityCenter. Removal of this malware can be tricky, so we recommend contacting the OIT Resource Center (students) or your Unit IT staff/CSR's (employees) immediately if you think you are infected. The Resource Center and Unit IT groups will be able to work with OIT-Information Security to resolve the issue.

The website for the OIT Resource Center is:

http://librarycommons.gatech.edu/resourcecenter/support.php

If you are running up-to-date antivirus software with current definitions, you should be safe from this threat. Georgia Tech offers the McAfee suite to students and employees at no extra cost:

http://software.oit.gatech.edu

Thank you for your help with this effort to keep Georgia Tech safe.

OIT