Spear-Phishing Phenomenon
Scammers posing as company executives
are on the rise.
Phishers are increasingly posing as company
executives and other high-ranking individuals in an effort
to steal passwords and other sensitive information from
surfers in a phenomenon dubbed spear phishing.
The online security service MessageLabs revelaed in June
that the tactic has been on the rise and this increase shows
no sign of abatement.
The scams are sent by phishers to employees at companies and
appear to come from their CEO or other high ranking
officials. The trend is part of a wider increase in more
specific and more corporate targeted phishing attacks
reported by MillerSmiles News in recent weeks.
Once employees have been tricked into revealing the
necessary data the scammers can install backdoor software
and other malware/spyware onto the company's PCs and
potentially steal secretive company held data.
Dave Jevans Chairman of the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG)
recommends employee education as the best way to counter
these threats and warns spear phishing will remain a threat
until email verification technology is improved.
MillerSmiles News article from:
news.millersmiles.co.uk/
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