Tag Archives: Phishing

@MiddInfoSec – Phishing Alert: don’t fall for “EMPLOYEE PAYROLL.” scam email

Be on the alert for a suspicious email purportedly sent from “SENDER” with the subject line ” EMPLOYEE PAYROLL.”. This is a confirmed phishing message, designed to trick you into divulging your username and password. If you find a copy of this message in your spam quarantine, please ignore it. If you find a copy of the message in your inbox, please delete it. If you find this message in your spam quarantine, do not release it. It will be deleted automatically in the next few days. Do not click on the links in the message or reply to the message.

 

For more information about phishing attacks, please visit http://go.middlebury.edu/phishing.  For more information about the spam quarantine, please visit http://go.middlebury.edu/spam.

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@MiddInfoSec: Don’t Get Hooked

You may not realize it, but you are a phishing target at school, at work, and at home. Phishing attacks are a type of computer attack that use malicious emails to trick targets into giving up sensitive information. Ultimately, you are the most effective way to detect and stop phishing scams. When viewing email messages, texts, or social media posts, use the following techniques to prevent your passwords, personal data, or private information from being stolen by a phishing attack.

    • Verify the source. Check the sender’s email address to make sure it’s legitimate. Remember that the name of the sender is not the important part. The sender’s email address is what you are really looking for. If in doubt, forward your message to phishing@middlebury.edu.
    • Read the entire message carefully. Phishing messages may include a formal salutation, overly-friendly tone, grammatical errors, urgent requests, or gimmicks that do not match the normal tone of the sender.
    • Avoid clicking on erroneous links. Even if you know the sender, be cautious of links and attachments in messages. Don’t click on links that could direct you to a bad website. Hovering your mouse over a link should disclose the actual web address that the link is directing you too, which may be different from what is displayed in the message. Make sure this masked address is a site you want to visit.
    • Verify the intent of all attachments with the sender before opening them. Even when you know a sender, you should never open an attachment unless have checked with the sender to verify the attachment was sent intentionally. Word and Excel documents can contain malicious macros which could harm your computer. Other files, such as zip files and PDF files, could download malware onto your system. Always verify the intent of attachments with the sender before you open them from an email.
  • Verifying a message is always better than responding to a phish. If you ever receive a message that provides reason to pause, it is always better to forward the message to phishing@middlebury.edu or to send a separate email to the sender to verify its intent, before clicking a link or opening an attachment that could potentially impact the security of your computer..
  • Change your passwords if you have fallen for a phish. If you think you have fallen for a phishing attack, change your password at go/password and then contact the helpdesk at x2200. It is also a good practice to change your personal passwords outside of the College.

 

Watch for phishing scams. Common phishing scams are published at sites such as http://IC3.gov , http://phishing.org ,https://www.irs.gov/uac/Report-Phishing. These resources will also allow you to report phishing attacks if you should fall victim outside of the College. Again, if you think you have fallen victim to a phishing attack, always start by changing your passwords.

@MiddInfoSec: Phishing Alert – – “Update Announcements”

A phishing email message was sent to @middlebury.edu mailboxes today with a subject line of “Update Announcements”.  DO NOT RESPOND ON THIS MESSAGE!

The phishing email message is an attack designed to trick people into disclosing their username and password.  Do NOT follow the instructions in the message, as it could lead to your Middlebury account being compromised.

If you were tricked by the email and responded,  reset your network password immediately at go/password and then call the Helpdesk at x2200 for further assistance with your account and any possible concerns with your computer.

Here’s a sample of the phishing email message:


Dear middlebury.edu User.

Urgent Update Announcements.

Your middlebury.edu Account has been Sign in with a strange IP Address: And this indicate your mail account is been used for FRAUDULENT ACT, For these reasons, Our records indicate you are no longer our current/active user. Therefore, your account has been scheduled for deletion on this Month of APRIL, 2016. As part of this process, your account, files, email address messages etc, will be deleted from our Data Base.

To Retail Your Account.

You are required to reply with your valid ONLINE ACCESS for reactivation, to ensure Your account remains active and subscribed, Otherwise this account will be De-activated within the next 72 hours hence from now.

Name In Full:

User Name:

Pass Word:

@middlebury.edu

Thank You.



 

Beware of Fake Order/Fake Invoice Emails with Malicious Attachments

Attackers commonly use the macro functionality found in Microsoft Word and Excel to attack their victims. They attach malicious documents to an email. When opened, the files can lead to a virus infection on your computer.  If you ever get a message with any of these attachments, particularly if you were not expecting it, do NOT open the attachment.

We have received reports for faked order confirmation and fake invoice emails this week that have been well crafted. The faked emails included malicious Microsoft Word documents bearing malware. A couple of examples are included below.

ALWAYS verify unexpected emails with the sender, particularly if they include attachments.

NEVER open attachments that you are not expecting without first verifying they are legitimate with the sender.

If you do open an attachment or file that you suspect is malicious unplug your network cable and contact the helpdesk at x2200 immediately.

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@MiddInfoSec: A New Phishing Attack is Targeting Email ID’s

A new phishing attack is hitting the campus with a subject line of, “Your email id”. Delete this message if you see it. Do NOT click any links in this message. If you believe you have fallen for this fishing attack:

This malicious email would have looked similar to the message below.

————————————

Subject: Your email id

Your?mail Id has used 91% of its allowable storage space.?Once your account exceeds the allowable storage space you will be unable to receive any email.?Click?Resolve?to login to your account and resolve this issue.

?

Support

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For additional information on phishing please visit http://go.middlebury.edu/phish .

 

@MiddInfoSec: Beware of Presidential Election Related Phishing Emails

Every election year we find our senses pounded with propaganda from pundits and candidates trying to sway us to one political camp or another. Computer attackers are leveraging our curiosity, and perhaps desensitization to political messages to launch attacks with purportedly political themes.

Recent phishing attacks that have been reported by security firms such as KnowBe4 include:

  • Trump Withdraws from Presidential Race
  • Sanders Withdraws from Presidential Race
  • Update your voter registration
  • Hillary Clinton Indicted by FBI on Email Scandal

Watch for these and other email phishing attacks. Know how to spot a phish. Learn more at http://go.middlebury.edu/phish.

#Phishing: Beware new phishing email

Beware new phishing email with subject line “RE: Faculty and Staff Notice”. Don’t click link to “IT ADMINISTRATOR SERVICE”

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For more information on phishing please visit http://go.middlebury.edu/phish

Please submit and suspicious emails or phishing attempts to phishing@middlebury.edu.

 

Email Phishing Alert

To our campus community,

We need to make you aware of an on-going phishing email attack on campus.  If you see a message like the one shown below, delete it and don’t respond.   It you have already responded to this email and given information, contact the Helpdesk at 802-443-2200 and check out the link below explaining what to do next.

http://www.middlebury.edu/offices/technology/infosec/education/phishing

These phishing emails can appear legitimate, though they take you to a non-legitimate site or email address.  Remember that the Helpdesk will never ask for your username/password.

Here is an example of the most recent email you may have received:

“To All
We currently upgraded our Server to 50GB inbox space. Please log-in to your user account to validate E-space.
Your emails won’t be delivered by our server, unless email account is confirmed.
protecting your email account is our primary concern,
for account update
CLICK HERE
should you have any questions please contact the IT Helpdesk.

INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION.
Copyright (c)2016 ITS Help Desk”

Be Safe,

Lisa Terrier
Helpdesk Manager – Service Requests
Middlebury College
110 Storrs Ave – Davis Family Library
Middlebury, VT 05753