Spear Phishing Trial in Canada

Link to us: http://snipurl.com/spearphishing

What is spear phishing?

Firstly,I would like to explain something more about spear phishing. Spear phishing is an

e-mail spoofing fraud attempt that targets a specific organization, seeking

unauthorized access to confidential data. As with the e-mail messages used in

regular phishing expeditions, spear phishing messages appear to come from a

trusted source. Phishing messages usually appear to come from a large and

well-known company or Web site with a broad membership base, such as eBay or

Pay Pal.

In the case of spear phishing, however, the apparent source of the e-mail is

likely to be an individual within the recipient's own company and generally

someone in a position of authority. From what I've read somewhere, spear

phishing attempts are not from random hacker, they are more likely conducted by

sophisticated groups out for financial gain, trade secrets or military

information.

In Toronto, computer hackers infiltrated some Canadian government computer systems

but were not able to access the classified data they were seeking. Stockwell Day,

the president of Treasury Board, which is also a federal administrative agency

said the attacks were significant but that Canada's cyber security systems

detected the intrusions and blocked them.

TheCanadian Broadcasting Corporation reported computers belonging to the Treasury

Board and Finance Department were among the systems infiltrated in early

January, along with Defence Research and Development Canada, which is a

research agency within the Department of National Defence. No indications that

any data relating to Canadians was compromised.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said that federal security agencies were working to

deal with cyber threats. The CBC reported the cyber attacks were traced to

computer servers in China, but no government official would confirm the origins

of the attacks.

The report said hackers were using a technique known as spear phishing, which

involves impersonating bureaucrats via their e-mail accounts to snoop around

government computer systems and steal key passwords that unlock government data

systems.

Reference

http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/2/18/business/20110218080041&sec=business