By William Knowles @c4i
Senior Editor
InfoSec News
September 29, 2014
For an agency that for the longest time used to be known as No Such Agency, now thanks to Edward Snowden it’s on center stage for everyone including malware writers.
The NSA Public Affairs Office is alerting the public of a scam that uses the NSA/CSS seals and banner. Victims of this malware scam report that a pop-up or a locked Internet browser alerts them that they have violated the law and/or are being monitored. Depending on where they are in the world, the latter part is likely true.
The malware scammer may also request that victims pay a fine. This activity and the associated alerts have no affiliation to the federal government, NSA included, and no money should be paid to the scammers.
Victims should consult a computer professional on how to address the computer infection. Victims may also contact the Internet Crime and Complaint Center, a partnership between the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center that accepts Internet-related criminal complaints.
The NSA recommends users looking for more information on malware to review the NIST Guide to Malware Incident Prevention and Handling.