Hacker and Phishing Alerts!
Author: Ira
Posted: Wed Dec 08, 2004 10:08 am
Post subject: Hacker and Phishing alerts
December 06, ZDNet UK — Phishing attacks rise ten fold in 2004.
The number of phishing attacks being launched each month has increased ten fold this year, security company MessageLabs reported on Monday, December 6. The company, which has intercepted almost 20 million phishing e−mails throughout 2004, said in its annual report that the number of phishing attacks has soared from 337,050 in January to 4.5 million in November. Interestingly, the rate rose most sharply between June and July −− from 264,254 to 2.5 million −− which could be due to the widespread use of zombie networks. "The major development of the year has undoubtedly been the emergence of phishing −− in just twelve months it has firmly established itself as a threat to any organization or individual conducting business online," said Mark Sunner, chief technology officer at MessageLabs. "We believe that the singling out of certain companies to be the victim of phishing attacks could signal the beginning of a wider trend," added Sunner. "Already particular businesses are threatened and blackmailed, indicating a shift from the random, scattergun approach, to customized attacks designed to take advantage of the perceived weaknesses of some businesses," said Sunner. Report: http://www.messagelabs.com/intelligence/2004report
Source: http://news.zdnet.co.uk/0,39020330,39179056,00.htm
December 06, Internet News — Phishing grows with holiday shopping spike.
The dramatic increase in online shopping this holiday season has lured more phishers out of hiding. The number of spoofs aimed at shoppers has increased more than 1,000 percent, according to Proofpoint's Anti−Spam Lab. A recent Proofpoint survey said nearly 100 new phishing attacks were discovered in November, an increase of 80 percent from October. Rami Habal, phishing expert for the Proofpoint Anti−Spam Lab, said because the recent wave of attacks is relatively new, most anti−spam filters and messaging security solutions are ineffective at stopping them. He expects to see similar exponential increases in both holiday spam and holiday−themed phishing attacks through the New Year. The lab has also reported a rise in phishing e−mails targeting the workplace. "Some of the most insidious new attacks we're seeing involve employees being sent phishing e−mails that appear to come from their employers," said Hamal, adding that the e−mails play on social engineering, where employees aren't prepared to question something.
Source: http://www.internetnews.com/security/article.php/3444001
December 03, Knight Ridder — State will mail out over one million warnings about hacker.
California will spend $691,000 to mail notices to 1.4 million Californians alerting them that their personal information might have been accessed by a hacker in August. The mailers represent the state's latest effort to warn those residents about an attack on a University of California−Berkeley computer. The university said in September that a hacker had gained entry to a system with names, addresses, birth dates and Social Security numbers. The state provided the information to the university for a study of recipients and caregivers in a program assisting the sick and elderly in their homes. State officials decided to send mailers after a telephone hotline and a Web posting about the incident drew inquiries from only a small fraction of those affected.
Source: http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/northern_california/10333482.htm
_________________
Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.
Ira
Posted: Wed Dec 08, 2004 10:08 am
Post subject: Hacker and Phishing alerts
December 06, ZDNet UK — Phishing attacks rise ten fold in 2004.
The number of phishing attacks being launched each month has increased ten fold this year, security company MessageLabs reported on Monday, December 6. The company, which has intercepted almost 20 million phishing e−mails throughout 2004, said in its annual report that the number of phishing attacks has soared from 337,050 in January to 4.5 million in November. Interestingly, the rate rose most sharply between June and July −− from 264,254 to 2.5 million −− which could be due to the widespread use of zombie networks. "The major development of the year has undoubtedly been the emergence of phishing −− in just twelve months it has firmly established itself as a threat to any organization or individual conducting business online," said Mark Sunner, chief technology officer at MessageLabs. "We believe that the singling out of certain companies to be the victim of phishing attacks could signal the beginning of a wider trend," added Sunner. "Already particular businesses are threatened and blackmailed, indicating a shift from the random, scattergun approach, to customized attacks designed to take advantage of the perceived weaknesses of some businesses," said Sunner. Report: http://www.messagelabs.com/intelligence/2004report
Source: http://news.zdnet.co.uk/0,39020330,39179056,00.htm
December 06, Internet News — Phishing grows with holiday shopping spike.
The dramatic increase in online shopping this holiday season has lured more phishers out of hiding. The number of spoofs aimed at shoppers has increased more than 1,000 percent, according to Proofpoint's Anti−Spam Lab. A recent Proofpoint survey said nearly 100 new phishing attacks were discovered in November, an increase of 80 percent from October. Rami Habal, phishing expert for the Proofpoint Anti−Spam Lab, said because the recent wave of attacks is relatively new, most anti−spam filters and messaging security solutions are ineffective at stopping them. He expects to see similar exponential increases in both holiday spam and holiday−themed phishing attacks through the New Year. The lab has also reported a rise in phishing e−mails targeting the workplace. "Some of the most insidious new attacks we're seeing involve employees being sent phishing e−mails that appear to come from their employers," said Hamal, adding that the e−mails play on social engineering, where employees aren't prepared to question something.
Source: http://www.internetnews.com/security/article.php/3444001
December 03, Knight Ridder — State will mail out over one million warnings about hacker.
California will spend $691,000 to mail notices to 1.4 million Californians alerting them that their personal information might have been accessed by a hacker in August. The mailers represent the state's latest effort to warn those residents about an attack on a University of California−Berkeley computer. The university said in September that a hacker had gained entry to a system with names, addresses, birth dates and Social Security numbers. The state provided the information to the university for a study of recipients and caregivers in a program assisting the sick and elderly in their homes. State officials decided to send mailers after a telephone hotline and a Web posting about the incident drew inquiries from only a small fraction of those affected.
Source: http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/northern_california/10333482.htm
_________________
Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.
Ira
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