Current Activity - Potential Hurricane Irene Phishing Scams

[Current Activity <us-cert () us-cert gov>]

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US-CERT Current Activity

Potential Hurricane Irene Phishing Scams

Original release date: August 29, 2011 at 12:05 pm
Last revised: August 29, 2011 at 12:05 pm


In the past, US-CERT has received reports of phishing scams and
malware campaigns related to topics that are of high-interest to the
U.S. Government or news media, such as Hurricane Irene. Users' systems
have been compromised by receiving and accessing phishing emails with
subject lines that seem relevant to a high-interest subject and appear
to originate from a valid sender. US-CERT reminds users to remain
vigilant for potential malicious cyber activity seeking to capitalize
on interest in Hurricane Irene. Users are advised to exercise caution
in handling any email with subject line, attachments, or hyperlinks
related to Hurricane Irene, even if it appears to originate from a
trusted source.

US-CERT encourages users and administrators to use caution when
encountering these types of email messages and take the following
preventative measures to protect themselves from phishing scams and
malware campaigns:
  * Do not follow unsolicited web links in email messages.
  * Use caution when opening email attachments. Refer to the Using
    Caution with Email Attachments Cyber Security Tip for more
    information on safely handling email attachments.
  * Maintain up-to-date antivirus software.
  * Refer to the Recognizing and Avoiding Email Scams (pdf) document
    for more information on avoiding email scams.
  * Refer to the Avoiding Social Engineering and Phishing Attacks
    Cyber Security Tip for more information on social engineering
    attacks.
  * Report phishing to US-CERT by sending email to
    phishing-report () us-cert gov.

Relevant Url(s):
<http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/tips/ST04-014.html>

<mailto:phishing-report () us-cert gov>

<http://www.us-cert.gov/reading_room/emailscams_0905.pdf>

<http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/tips/ST04-010.html>

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This entry is available at
http://www.us-cert.gov/current/index.html#potential_hurricane_irene_phishing_scams

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