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Post from Sophosh by Graham Cluley.
A number of Facebook users have reported to us receiving mysterious messages, seemingly from Facebook’s security team, telling them that their accounts have been suspended.
The spam messages, however, are not legitimate.
In reality they have been sent out by fraudsters posing as Facebook’s real security team, with the intention of phishing credentials from unsuspecting users.
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Are you an Outlook user? Have you received a message telling you that your account needs to be reconfigured, and requesting that you enter your username and password?
Here’s an email message that we have seen sent out to internet users:
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Computer hackers have an ability to cause chaos by using personal data that they have stolen. But the theft can be prevented if people are careful with their information.
Personal finance expert Carmen Wong Ulrich shared advice during a talk on ‘The Early Show on Saturday Morning’ on how to protect personal information and what to do when hackers get their hands on it.
“The first line of defense is always your passwords, and the information on your computer,” CBS News quoted Ulrich as telling co-anchor Betty Nguyen.
“Make sure you go right to your computer, change your log-in information and password information on everything from your credit card accounts to where you shop through retailers and your email, as well because, as we saw-Google and Yahoo – the hackers are coming in from everywhere,” she said.
Ulrich, author of ‘The Real Cost of Living’, said almost three-quarters of us use the same password on several accounts.
“Please stop doing that! Protect the banking part as much as you can, because the hackers will come in from the company side. But they’re coming in on your side, too,” she implored.
“Also, use one computer, if you can, to do your banking. I know it’s hard (with everyone using so many different devices). Try to do it all on one computer. That limits exposure.
“And, never, ever do banking or do transactions online on an open Wi-Fi. It’s very tempting because it’s so easy. You could be sitting in a coffee shop or the airport or wherever you are. Squatters will sit there and scour that Wi-Fi. So definitely don’t do that.
“And don’t use your debit card online. This runs counter (to conventional wisdom), because credit cards, people say, are bad. But a credit card protects you and your cash.
“Of course, there’s (a) liability (limit) with your debit card. But who wants their accounts emptied of cash? Instead, use your credit card online, so at least you don’t expose yourself, cash-wise,” she stated.
Source :- http://in.finance.yahoo.com
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Reuters is reporting that Citibank‘s systems were hacked, resulting in a loss of Personally Identifiable Information (PII).
Citibank says that data for 1% of their cardholders was accessed through this breach, but customers‘ Social Security Numbers (SSNs), birth dates, card expiration dates and CVV codes are safe.
Information that may have been disclosed to the hackers includes customers’ names, account numbers, contact details and email addresses.
According to Citibank’s website they are the world’s largest provider of credit cards, issuing more than 150,000,000 cards globally. Based on these numbers, information for 1,500,000 or more individuals may have been compromised.
In April Paul Gaulant, former head of the bank’s credit card unit, told Reuters, “Security breaches happen, they’re going to continue to happen … the mission of the banking industry is to keep the customer base safe and customers feeling secure about their financial transactions and payments.”
That may be true, but feeling secure is not the same as being secure. How this information was acquired and why it wasn’t protected against theft is a far more important question.
Citi has stated they will notify customers believed to be affected by the breach.
Customers affected by this incident should be on high alert for scams, phishing and phone calls purporting to be from Citibank and their subsidiaries.
While Citi customers aren’t likely to have fraudulent charges against their accounts as a result of this breach, they are likely to encounter social engineering attempts to enable further crime.
Considering that the attackers have your name, account number and other sensitive information they are able to provide a very convincing cover story to victims.
Never accept incoming communications purporting be from financial institutions you do business with, whether by email or phone call. Call them back using only the phone numbers published on your cards or statements. When logging in to perform online transactions, always enter their website address directly in your browser. Never click links.
Source :- http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com
