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Written by: 10/11/2011 6:49 AM
Apparently, just hours after Steve Jobs’ passing, hackers were in the business of creating phishing scams that lured unsuspecting Apple devotees into dangerous sites by promising news of the technology guru’s funeral arrangements. Some scams promised free shipping codes for buying Apple products, and still others promised the chance to win a free iPad.
What’s worse, the phishing site was registered well in advance of Jobs’ passing, which means that this attack was not only jerky, but premeditated—jerkiness planned weeks beforehand.
So, are we going to stand by and let this happen? Are we just going to let the hackers use this sad event for personal gain?
Well, yes. I’m afraid so. There will, of course, be no end to people who will take advantage of a sad story, national catastrophe, or natural disaster. Remember all those fake donation centers for Hurricane Katrina? Or how about the ones for the Asian tsunami victims, or mid-western tornado victims? The list goes on and on.
The best thing we can do is show some common sense. Since we know these horrible people are out there, don’t make it easy for them and assume that everyone offers free things out of the goodness of their hearts. Keep these two things in mind:
1) No one is really going to give you an iPad for nothing. Sure, every now and then a big company will run a legitimate giveaway. But for the most part, the 100+ email or Facebook offers for free Apple products are scammers trying to get your information.
2) If a link promises “exclusive news” or “never before seen photos” that are not appearing on the major news sites, be suspect. With the advances in up-to-the-minute communication, it’s not likely that “randomnewsandphotos.com” is going to have exclusive details that just haven’t made it to CNN yet. It happens sometimes, but it’s rare—and how many people do you know that clicked on a Facebook link out of curiosity only to be hacked moments later?
And as an aside, RocketReady is thankful for Steve Jobs. We are a Mac shop through and through and we are grateful for what Apple has done for our business.
Read more about it here: http://blogs.cio.com/security/16541/cybercrooks-using-steve-jobs%E2%80%99-death-lure-online-scams?source=CIONLE_nlt_infosec_2011-10-07