Its party time for cyber burglars

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It's party time for cyber burglars

As the world is set to welcome the new year, cyber criminals are likely to have a field day, warn experts

Pankaj Maru

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

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MUMBAI, INDIA: So the curtain is about to fall. The year that is coming to an end today had been one of worst year as far as the counts of malicious activities, phishing scams, spams and malware attacks on the Internet are concerned.

And there's a possibility of further attacks even on the last day and coming days of 2009 as there's a high traffic on the Internet, say experts. According to F-Secure Security Labs' security response manager Wing Fei Chia, there's no doubt that festivals, major days and events across the year are highly prone to malicious attacks.

With the Internet reaching every mile across the world, netizens are widely using e-mails and e-greetings to keep in touch with family members, friends and others, particularly during festivals. Apart from e-mails or e-cards, users prefer online shopping and gifting as it is easy and convenient.

But there's a high risk involved too. "During these times consumers are more likely to engage in on-line transactions but, ironically, online security awareness is not on top of their mind. And the cyber criminals know that too, they are more likely make hay by misleading people with malicious contents, Chia explains.

Talking of this year's attacks, Chia points that during Christmas and new year there were outbreaks last year and it is not likely to be very different this year too.

"Attacks will skewed more towards trying to look like it is coming from someone you know or trust spreading on social networking sites as well as injecting malicious code on high traffic legitimate sites," he says.

But for the Internet burglars, such party atmosphere offers an easy ground to lay down their trap here. Their traps are disguised in many ways such by sending emails from unknown addresses, fake websites for phishing and malware attacks, etc.

The purpose is to collect key details such as e-mail ID, password, bank account number, credit card number and so forth. They fool by sending malicious links, unauthenticated claims of shopping discounts, fake movie tickets, lottery prizes and gifts. With humans' natural instinct to get attracted and carried away by such alluring offers, there's a more chance of victimizing oneself to such online frauds.

Even McAfee's regional director for India and SAARC, Kartik Shahani agrees, festivals like Christmas and new year celebrations are the most favorable times for online frauds and malware attacks.

"Many people have put on sale their unused gifts and unwanted items on e-Bay, this can lead to major frauds on the net," Shahani says. Shahani further points out that 2008 has more than double number of online frauds and malicious attacks compared to 2007.

"With the current downturn there's more scope for rise in malicious activities and cyber crimes," he adds, pointing to the recent hacking incident of State Bank of India's website early this week.

In this context, prevention is better than cure. Shahani advices not to check any emails from unknown person or address, as it could be a spam or phishing mail, and stay away from clicking unfamiliar links or mail attachments.

Similarly, Chia also advices users to restrain from clicking suspicious links saying, 'Christmas greeting", "happy new year" or some suspicious attachments. So the best and safe way for users is to keep away from suspicious things, install security or anti-virus software and follow strict policy while browsing the Internet. Cheers!!!

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