Phishing on Social Sites Makes them High Risk for ID Theft
Tweet! Tweet!
Last week two hits on Twitter were made – the first two large scale hits on Twitter. First, President Elect Barack Obama’s Twitter account was hacked, along with the accounts of several other prominent people. This was alrming enough, but the second scam was much more sinister.
People were receiving emails to go and check out a story. The emails took them to a ‘Twitter login page’, and their usernames and passwords were being captured. This is a common phishing tactic, used to obtain information that can often be backtracked to more info about the person – particularly when the username is your email address (as so many sites automatically set it up).
Fortunately, Twitter acted quickly to resolve the problem. So far he damage appears to be contained and no-one has been seriously compromised. The Twittering about the Twitter hack was, of course, enormous!
Phishers on the Offensive
However, similar attacks on other social sites make it necessary to be vigilant. Facebook also recently received a visit from phishers – many people’s friends lists have been hit with requests to view a ‘wall’, with a tantalizing snippet of info promising juicy gossip. Again, clicking on the link provided takes you to a false Facebook login page.
MySpace has been hit over and over by phishing scams and other hacks – social networks are reeling. People become so accustomed to quickly sending and receiving messages that they don’t take the proper precautions! There is an easy fix however – simply be paranoid. Avoid clicking on links in emails, even if they seem like they have been forwarded from a legit site.
Don’t be so Quick to Click!
Double check the URL of the page you are on before logging in on ANY site – and if it seems the least bit ‘phishy’ go to your social site by means of a trusted favorites tab or bookmark, or by typing the URL directly.
Phishing for email addresses and other info is getting easier as people spread out on the web and become more open to attack. Deliberate attacks rose in 2008 to twice what they had been in past years, despite vigilant attempts by Google and others to decrease the amount of spam. Continual vigilance is the only true solution to protecting your identity.
