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Fake OpenOffice search results
HTTPS on Microsoft
Update CatalogMicrosoft has finally
addressed one of the most
inexplicable security flaws
on the internet: it has
upgraded its Update Catalog
so files you download from
it are encrypted by HTTPS,
not HTTP. This means there’s
no chance of the updates
you install being intercepted
by hackers.
It’s long overdue.
Previously, browsers – Microsoft’s Edge
included – would often block downloads
from the Catalog because they correctly
judged the HTTP link to be insecure. To
get around this you had to right-click a
file and select ‘Save as’. Now you can
just download a file and your browser
should accept it.
You can check this by visiting theCatalog (www.snipca.com/41540),
searching for an update you know you
need – whether it’s for Windows, a
driver or to fix a security fault – then
clicking Download next to the file (^1 in
our screenshot). Next, double-click in
your browser’s address bar and you’ll
see that the download link now begins
with ‘https’^2.What’s the threat?
Hackers are infecting computers with
malware that’s hidden on a fake
download page for OpenOffice. They
managed to bypass Google’s security
checks to advertise the false URL
(https://www.open-office.ca) in search
results for ‘open office’.
Clicking the link and downloading the
software infects your computer with the
Mars Stealer malware, which attempts
to steal details including credit-card
numbers, IP addresses and data that
gets automatically filled out in forms as
you browse the web.How can you stay safe?
First, try to only ever install OpenOffice- and indeed any software – by typing its
correct URL (www.openoffice.org) into
your browser’s address bar, whether
that’s the full URL or one of our
shortened Snipca links. As Barry Collins
reveals on page 21, you can’t rely on
scam to survive undetected. Far fewer
people download OpenOffice, so it
would probably fly under the radar for
longer.
Incidentally, to download LibreOffice
visit http://www.libreoffice.org, and for
OnlyOffice (which makes its debut in
Make Office Better on page 47) visit
http://www.onlyoffice.com. Searching for
them on Google will be safe most of the
time, but you never know when
scammers may have sneaked some
adverts into the search results.Google to keep dodgy sites off their
search results, so you have to take extra
precautions yourself.
So far this fake site has appeared only on
Google’s Canadian site (www.google.ca- look at the .ca suffix in our screenshot),
but if it’s successful the criminals behind
it will almost certainly try it worldwide.
What’s interesting is why the hackers
chose OpenOffice rather than its far more
popular open-source cousin LibreOffice.
It could be that too many people
download LibreOffice every day for the
Tesco ‘system error’
scam
I do most of my shopping at Tesco,
so I was interested in an email that
claimed the supermarket owed me
money because of a ‘system error’.
But then the email said I made a
complaint in store about an item I
had purchased, and this system error
had stopped me getting a refund.
Absolute rubbish. And not a very
clever scam. For it to work, it needs
to reach people who have
complained, and that surely will
always be a small number. I showed it
to Tesco staff when I next shopped
there, and they said it had been
confirmed as a scam.
Len BradshawIssue 630 • 27 April – 10 May 20221
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