IT security and control firm Sophos is reminding computer users
to be on their guard against phishing attacks following news that
the Facebook account of Conservative MP for Lichfield, Michael
Fabricant, has been hacked.
According to reports, the MP fell foul of a phishing campaign
that stole his username and password, and hackers then sent
messages to Fabricant's 1,500 friends saying "Look at this!" and
pointing recipients to a malicious webpage. Facebook has now
suspended the politician's page.
Fabricant reported on his
blog that he was "devastated.. This has never happened to me
before and I can only apologise. If any of my Facebook Friends get
a message from me called 'Look at this' - Don't! I did when I
received a similar message and look what happened to me. Outlawed
from cyberspace and unable to communicate now with my cyber
friends."
"This Tory MP's tangle with cybercriminals is no laughing
matter, and for many victims of similar scams, this is just the tip
of the iceberg," said Graham Cluley, senior
technology consultant at Sophos. "A third of computer users admit
to using the same password for every website they access, and if
Fabricant is one of these, he should now make it a priority to
change his login details before the hackers have a chance to get to
his other internet accounts. It would do no harm for any computer
user to take time to better acquaint themselves with safe computing
practices, to better defend their activities online."
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.