H1N1 Phishing Scam

We all know that there are a variety of phishing scams that can be used to target personal information and other personal data to compromise both someone’s identity and any other information that can be used on personal accounts. The newest phishing scam has come about with one of the newest diseases that have struck our nation. Illinois residents are being warned by Dr. Damon Arnold, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, to be on the lookout for phishing scams asking for personal information in order to qualify for the H1N1 vaccination being offered.

These e-mails are targeting Illinois residents and are claiming to be from the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. In the e-mail it states, “that anyone 18 years or older has to create the personal vaccination profile on the CDC Web site. The Illinois Department of Public Health has issued a statement informing residents to delete these e-mails and that no program has been set up to implement a vaccination program through registration. Likewise, anyone who receives the e-mail and clicks the link is subjecting himself or herself to malicious code being entered onto their computers.

As we know, there are steps that can be used to remove yourself from any situation that might be a phishing scam. Only reading e-mails from users, people, or programs that you know is vital in keeping your personal information away from risk. Also, when clicking links, know the websites you are accessing and do not enter information on any website that is not secure. These are a few steps at marinating your identity and not becoming a victim to identity thieves.

Source:

http://www.nwherald.com/articles/2009/12/07/r_eiirenekrs6vnw8upmlgq/index.xml

Yahoo Login Credentials are Subject to New Phishing Scam

A statement issued by Trusteer Inc. claims that a new phishing scam is targeting customers who “use content management systems rub by Yahoo and other service providers.” Trusteer Inc. is, according to its website, “a privately held corporation founded by senior Internet security industry executives with specific expertise in enterprise and consumer desktop security.” Yahoo customers are receiving phony e-mails that are asking these users to confirm their account information, and in the process putting their account at risk. These phishing e-mails ask for sensitive information and data that compromise the Yahoo accounts. Defined by Wikipedia, “Phishing scams are fraudulent processes that attempt to acquire sensitive information.” After receiving this information, the cybercriminals use the stolen account to set up fake bank websites to steal funds from other Internet users.

Along with setting up fake websites these hackers are using malicious code to cause havoc on the Internet and are uploading this through the stolen info, all which is received through the phishing scam. Due to legit logins that are done through the content management website, these hackers go undetected and a breach is almost impossible to detect until it is too late.

Trusteer Inc. can’t figure out where these emails are originating and are having a difficult time detecting where the hackers who set these fake websites up are residing. Likewise, in September researchers noted that attackers were using brute force attacks and scripts to bypass the original login requirements. People are researching these logins and are monitoring such actions as well.

I know we discuss these types of attacks all of the time and we make sure that we don’t reveal any personal or login information to a specific website without knowing who is asking for it. We see activities like this happening all of the time including our own Notre Dame Federal Credit Union. We will continue to see phishing scams and as in this specific example see different ways in which phishing scams are fulfilled.

Sources:

http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/news/article/0,289142,sid14_gci1376209,00.html