Phishing targets C-level execs

Do you know where your senior executives are? Or at the least, do you know what sites they're visiting? According to a report by MessageLabs, a Web and messaging security provider, phishing and targeted attacks are way up-and in several instances, these attacks have been specifically targeted at C-level executives. On Sept. 12th, more than 1,100 C-level and senior management executives became the target of an attack, eWeek reports. The emails, which purported to be from a recruitment company, used a Microsoft error message to persuade the victims to click on the RFT attachment. The attachment contains an executable program that drops two files onto the computer, which are in turn used to pass sensitive information back to the attacker. Separately, in September, one in every 87.2 emails was a phishing attack. The number of phishing emails accounted for 56 percent of all malware threats intercepted in September, the report says. The report notes that these attacks are getting a lot more sophisticated with the spread of phishing kits--specifically there's a kit called "rock phishing."

For all the details on phishing:
- see the article in eWeek