This Week’s Roundup of the Latest Security News

Here’s a quick roundup of this week’s latest news on what cyber criminals are up to and what security officials are doing to tackle them.

New York State Attorney General advises phone giants to beef up security
In what may be called a thoughtful step to curb the black market, Eric Schneiderman, New York State Attorney General, has urged major players in the handset industry such as Apple, Samsung, Motorola, Google, and Microsoft to implement tighter security measures for their phones. Phones that are lost or stolen are put up for resale in the black market, after they are wiped clean. What Schneiderman expressed in his letter to the heads of these companies, was the need to create a technology that would make their phones inoperable if they get into the wrong hands.

Beware of emails from Amazon UK – it might launch a malware attack on your system
In other news, security officials have identified malicious emails that appear to have been sent by Amazon.co.uk. The email poses as a receipt of an order that a user has made on the Amazon website. Careful analysis has revealed that the body of the email and its embedded links do not carry out any malicious activity. It is an attachment [“Your Order Details with Amazon.zip”] in the email, however, which has been found to harbour a Trojan horse.

Phishing email robs victim of a hefty £1 million
In another phishing scandal, a British woman was lured by scammers to give away her personal details in response to an email, seemingly sent by a bank. The phishers then used the info to phish out £1 million, which was, reportedly the woman’s life savings. When cracked down by the police, the offenders confessed about spending the booty on cheeseburgers, gold and computers.

Is your Facebook account safe? Well, think again!
Facebook has, undeniably, become the playground for cyber criminals. News has surfaced that a new breed of malware may be up and ready for hijacking FB accounts; so has Microsoft said as a warning. According to the software giant, the malware could be in the guise of an extension of Google Chrome and an add-on in Firefox. The malware is, reportedly a Trojan. Once it gets into a computer, it can take over the victim’s FB account, and execute actions like liking a page, sharing info, making posts and even chatting with the victim’s friends.

No harm in treating mails from RBI with suspicion
With cyber criminals venturing into higher grounds to fraud people, it is only natural if every email from your bank furrows your eyebrows. In recent news, emails from the RBI are making the rounds on the Internet. The mail talks of a new security system that people can use to secure their bank accounts. And for that, they have to furnish their banking details among other information. The RBI has confirmed that it has no knowledge of any such development, and has cautioned people to stay alert against such scams. Always remember, no bank communicates with its customers seeking their bank details, passwords, or card detail.

Soumya Patnaik