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Fake 'security update' doing the rounds online

Internet users have been warned to watch out for a fake security update purporting to be from computer giant Microsoft, it has emerged.

Writing in the IT Wire, Alex Zaharov-Reutt states that the latest ruse from cyber crooks involves an email wit the subject line: "Security Update for OS Microsoft Windows".

According to the online security pundit, this message comes laden with an online threat - KB386881.exe, a backdoor trojan and malware- that can leave users with a variety of internet security problems.

Zaharov-Reutt says he encountered the threat but was only saved from being a victim because his internet security software "detected and automatically removed the attachment".

"Clearly the online criminals were hoping not everyone was using suitably cautious email software or without the latest anti-virus protections", he writes.

He recommends having the latest updates, which "will also scan your incoming emails and will automatically neutralise malware threats, as happened to me".

Recently the National Cyber Security Alliance in the US warned that basic internet security tools were not being fully deployed by many US internet users.

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