Security Experts Identify New Egyptian and Libyan-themed 'Nigerian Spam' E-mails

Recently, security researchers at Kaspersky Lab identified a new set of 'Nigerian spam' e-mails.

Albuquerque, NM (prHWY.com) April 26, 2011 - Albuquerque, NM, United States - Recently, security researchers at Kaspersky Lab identified a new set of 'Nigerian spam' e-mails. The e-mails purportedly seek assistance from individuals for transferring money related to former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak or Libyan leader, Muammar Muhammad al-Gaddafi. Cybercriminals take advantage of mega events, and calamities to defraud Internet users. In this case, cybercriminals are trying to leverage the revolutions in Egypt and Libya to lure individuals into fraudulent schemes. The Egyptian and Libyan-themed 'Nigerian' spam e-mails seek name, primary contact number and bank account number of individuals. The e-mails are cleverly crafted and appear to come from the legal representatives, agents or sons of Mubarak or Gaddafi. The e-mails seek assistance from the individuals citing the prevailing situation in Egypt or Libya, risks of keeping money in their countries and pressure faced by the leaders. Individuals are promised attractive commissions in return for their assistance. While some spam e-mails, clearly mentioned the amount involved, others attempt to seek more details from individuals, before disclosing further details. One of the e-mails claims to be from Moussa Koussa, former Libyan foreign minister and seeks more information from individuals to disclose some highly confidential information. The minister had defected from the Libyan government, and is currently facing investigations in United Kingdom (U.K).

Unwary individuals, who divulge their personal and financial information, are defrauded. Lack of awareness and negligence make individuals fall prey to fraudulent schemes of cybercriminals. online degree and e-learning programs could help Internet users to understand various forms of cyber threats and best practices. Internet users must be wary of replying to unsolicited e-mails and e-mails from unknown sources. They must be wary of replying to e-mails, which involve transfer of huge amounts of money. They must not respond to e-mails, which involve lottery, prizes for schemes, in which they have not participated. They must avoid clicking on suspicious links or open attachments in e-mails from unknown sources as they may direct to a malicious site or contain malicious code and compromise their computer systems.

Attackers are increasingly making use of social engineering techniques to defraud users. Professionals qualified in masters of security science and IT security certifications must identify and alert users on cyber threats. Users must be advised on spam filters. E-mail service providers must work with Internet security firms to detect and filter spam messages.

Threats in the cyber space require proactive action. Online university degree courses on IT security may help professionals in keeping themselves abreast of latest threats, data protection mechanisms and bring improvement in cyber security practices.

Contact Press

EC-Council
Website: http://www.eccuni.us
Email: iclass@eccouncil.org
Tel: 505-341-3228

EC-Council University is based in Albuquerque, New Mexico and offers Master of Security Science (MSS) degree to students from various backgrounds such as graduates, IT Professionals, and military students amongst several others. The MSS is offered as a 100% online degree program and allows EC-Council University to reach students from not only the United States, but from all around the world.

EC-Council is a member-based organization that certifies individuals in cybersecurity and e-commerce skills. It is the owner and developer of 16 security certifications, including Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), Computer Hacking Forensics Investigator (CHFI) and EC-Council Certified Security Analyst (ECSA)/License Penetration Tester (LPT). Its certificate programs are offered in over 60 countries around the world.

EC-Council has trained over 80,000 individuals and certified more than 30,000 members, through more than 450 training partners globally. These certifications are recognized worldwide and have received endorsements from various government agencies including the U.S. federal government via the Montgomery GI Bill, Department of Defense via DoD 8570.01-M, National Security Agency (NSA) and the Committee on National Security Systems (CNSS). EC-Council also operates the global series of Hacker Halted security conferences.

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Tag Words: online university, online degree, cyber threats, security, internet, fraudulent schemes, money transfer, cyber security, spam emails, nigerian spam

Categories: Security

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