|
ARCHIVE 2004
CyberGuard Security Expert Warns of Sophisticated
New Holiday Phishing Scam
BOCA RATON, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 30, 2004--It's not only
traffic around the malls that's on the rise this holiday season,
but Internet traffic from scammers is also on the increase according
to a security expert from CyberGuard Corporation (Nasdaq:CGFW),
a provider of proven, intelligent security solutions that protect
business-critical assets for Global 2,000 organizations and government
entities worldwide.
Citing reports from the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) that
indicate a 100 percent increase in the number of phishing sites
between September and October 2004, Paul Henry, a senior vice
president at CyberGuard, states, "Between 80 and 100 new
phishing Web sites are starting up daily. Scammers are getting
much more sophisticated and they are harder for a user to detect."
Urging people to beware of e-mails offering holiday deals that
seem too good to be true, Henry adds that consumers should be
on guard against a particularly nasty new phishing scam this holiday
season. While many common phishing cons involve fake e-mails from
banks or other financial interests that lead individuals to fake
bank sites, Henry warns consumers to take care when buying holiday
gifts online this year because scammers are using fake e-commerce
sites.
Henry explains how it works: When people search on the Internet
for items they want to buy and click on a link, they are directed
to a legitimate looking Web page and instructed to "Click
here to download images" of what they want to buy. What they
can end up downloading is a self-extracting zip file that installs
a Trojan on their PC. Trojans can then redirect links to legitimate
financial institutions to fraudulent Web sites allowing the scammer
to harvest the user's credentials.
"If it looks too good to be true," says Henry, "it
probably is. Don't let the Grinch steal your Christmas."
Dr. Horst Joepen, CEO of CyberGuard's Webwasher subsidiary, says
that enterprise customers using the newest versions of Webwasher
Content Security Management (CSM) have built-in defense against
this type of attack. "Proactive filtering technology, which
is included in CSM 5.1, protects users from Trojans."
Paul Henry, CISSP, is an authority on information security trends.
A frequent speaker and presenter at information security conferences
around the world, Henry has published numerous articles and white
papers and is the author of the chapter on firewalls in the Information
Security Management Handbook.
About CyberGuard Corporation
CyberGuard Corporation (Nasdaq:CGFW) provides proven, intelligent,
security solutions that protect business-critical information
assets of Global 2,000 companies and government entities worldwide.
The company's firewall/VPN, Total Stream Protection(TM), Global
Command Center(TM) and Webwasher(R) product suites comprise a
comprehensive, integrated security system, which offers highly
adaptive, scalable solutions that intelligently guard against
network intrusion and content-based vulnerabilities, detecting
and eliminating security threats in real-time for performance
optimization. CyberGuard has deployed more than 250,000 products
in companies around the world to maintain the health and integrity
of their enterprises. Headquartered near Boca Raton, Florida,
the company has branch offices and training centers around the
globe and can be located on the World Wide Web at http://www.cyberguard.com.
Forward-Looking Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve
certain risks, uncertainties and factors, including without limitation,
those described in the Company's filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission that may cause the Company's future actual
results to materially differ from the Company's current expectations.
The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking
statements.
CyberGuard(R) and Webwasher(R) are registered trademarks and
Total Stream Protection(TM) and Global Command Center(TM) are
trademarks of CyberGuard Corporation. All other trademarks are
property of their respective owners.
|