Phishing News

Q&A: Report on how phishing got personal Special By Tim Sandle Q4 2018 proved to be one of the biggest influxes of phishing attacks on enterprises ever, displaying the ease with which criminals can access, acquire and execute attacks across platforms. A leading expert offers advice to businesses.

Why business have mixed reactions to cyberattacks By Tim Sandle The extent that businesses are taking cyberattacks seriously is mixed and the level of response relates to the form of the attack (or perceived risk), according to a new study from Canada.

AI chatbot used to combat phishing by wasting scammers' time By James Walker A team of cybersecurity researchers has developed an AI chatbot that aims to waste scammers' time by responding to phishing emails. You can forward scam emails to the bot. A proxy email address will then start automatically replying the scammer for you.

Google says phishing attacks are the biggest risk to web users By James Walker A Google study has found phishing attacks crafted by scammers are a far bigger threat than keyloggers and reusing passwords. Thieves obtain over 250,000 valid sets of credentials for Gmail accounts each week, illustrating the scale of the problem.

Google launches hardened security options for at-risk users By James Walker Google has announced several new account security options aimed at consumers at particular risk of cyberattack. The company's Advanced Protection program offers extended protections to prevent phishing attacks and safeguard data for at-risk users.

Google announces new Gmail features to make email safer By James Walker Google has detailed its latest progress in its ongoing work to make email more secure. The company claimed its automated systems can now detect and filter out 99.9 percent of phishing emails. The statement comes after a recent high-profile Gmail scam.

Facebook and Google duped out of $100 million in phishing scam By Owen Weldon In march, news surfaced about a phishing scheme that scammed two US tech giants. At the time, the names were not disclosed, but it turned out that the victims were Google and Facebook.

Google goes to war against fake download buttons By James Walker A common trick used by advertisers and scammers is to design fake software download buttons to display alongside websites with legitimate links. Google has announced it will start to protect users against these deceptive buttons with a Chrome update.

LastPass users warned of sophisticated phishing attack By James Walker A flaw in the popular password manager software LastPass has been discovered by a security researcher. It allows a hacker to design an exceptionally convincing phishing attack and persuade the user to give up the root password protecting their details.

Time Warner Cable: Up to 320,000 email passwords possibly stolen By Megan Hamilton Time Warner Cable Inc. reported Wednesday that email passwords for up to 320,000 customers may have been stolen. The company also said it hasn't determined how the information was harvested, but there no indications of a breach at Time Warner Cable.

Hackers access almost 2,000 Vodafone customer accounts By James Walker Mobile network Vodafone has confirmed hackers have accessed its database and obtained the details of nearly 2,000 customers. Phone numbers and bank sort codes are among the stolen information.

App Store security breached as malware found buried inside apps By James Walker In what is thought to be a first for the platform, Apple has confirmed its usually secure App Store has been subjected to a large-scale malware distribution effort affecting several major apps used by hundreds of millions of people.

'Spam king' hacked 500,000 Facebook users, sent 27m spam messages By James Walker A Las Vegas man who called himself the 'Spam King' while he used phishing attacks to gain passwords for 500,000 Facebook accounts before sending over 27 million spam messages has pleaded guilty in court.

New banking malware scam targets 20,000 in three days By James Walker A new form of banking malware discovered in the UK could have infected 20,000 customers in the past week. The malware is distributed in an email and can allow the attackers to remotely control the targeted user's system, stealing their bank details.

Google targets annoying browser toolbars with new web protection By James Walker Google has enhanced its search protection algorithms to provide more protection against websites harbouring unwanted software designed to hijack a user's computer with unwanted browser settings or intrusive adverts on webpages.

App that lets hackers break into iPhones just got scarier By Business Insider Elcomsoft Phone Breaker, the app that some think hackers used to break into Kate Upton's iCloud account in September, just got a massive update that makes it even easier to steal information.

Study: Are habitual Facebook users easy marks for phishing scams? By Earl Dittman Been a victim of countless social media scams or attacks? If so, chances are you are more than a casual Facebook user. According to a new study, habitual Facebook usage is making you an easy phishing target.

10,000 Facebook users are infected with 'color change' malware By Walter McDaniel New reports from Security Company Cheetah Mobile state that the Facebook color change app has reappeared and 10,000 or more users are now infected.

Justice Canada employees fall for fake email scam By Arthur Weinreb Ottawa - After mock emails were sent to employees at the Department of Justice, it was determined more than one third of them clicked onto phony links in the email leading to concerns about the security of the department's sensitive information.

Op-Ed: Are online ads safe? Senate committee grills Yahoo, Google By Paul Wallis Washington - The risk of malware contained in online ads (malvertising) affects everyone, including Google and Yahoo. Consumer online safety is now an official issue. A Senate sub-committee took the two Internet giants to task, and got some interesting answers.

How safe is your Internet cafe? Special By Alexander Baron London - Do you ever use Internet cafés? If you do, then you may be risking your data and a lot more if one man's experience is anything to go by.

Op-Ed: Should Phishing be a capital offence? By Alexander Baron If you think that title sounds frivolous, think again. Unlike many crimes including at times murder, phishing has arguably no mitigation.

The latest UK phishing scam By Alexander Baron The first recorded crime happened when Eve was tempted by the Serpent to eat fruit from the tree of knowledge. The Serpent is still there, but you don't have to listen to him.

Watch out for these malware scams Special By Alexander Baron What should you not do if you receive a suspicious e-mail? Do NOT click a link, any link. Ignore that advice at your own cost. I did.

Op-Ed: Beating Spam? Try beating an apathetic Internet culture first By Paul Wallis Sydney - Global spam is now sending 94 billion messages per day that nobody wants or needs. It's truly ridiculous. It’s also absurd, when you consider possible fixes. Spam is actually a dangerous form of assault on people, businesses and everything in general.

FBI Counterintelligence releases Social Networking Risks Report By Christopher Wager New FBI report details high risk methods of social networking deception used by so called hackers to gain personal information for the purpose of defrauding the unsuspecting user.

Email scam: Fake Verizon bills duping customers By Leigh Goessl The Better Business Bureau (BBB) is warning of a new phishing scam that is finding its way into the email inboxes of many people.

Sending a message to the Phishers By Alexander Baron If you receive a suspicious e-mail apparently from a bona fide company, why not trace it and then send the phishers a message?

Internet giants form DMARC to battle email spam, phishing attacks By Andrew Moran Washington - Web giants Microsoft, Facebook, Google and Yahoo have formed the technical working group, Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance (DMARC). This new coalition will fight against email spam and phishing attacks.

Op-Ed: Avoiding the phishers, by email and phone By Alexander Baron Internet fraud is booming, and the scam artists are becoming more and more sophisticated. Fortunately, so are we, as are the tools at our command to catch them out.

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