McAfee warns that despite the Olympic fever, e-mails should be carefully considered before opening attachments or following web links as the Olympic Games are being used as bait by phishers
McAfee has warned Internet users of malware and phishing attacks that carry an Olympic theme.
Spammers, phishers and malware writers have grown increasingly sophisticated in engineering their attacks to take advantage of social, cultural and economic events. McAfee Avert Labs, McAfee's security research organisation, has already seen various forms of Olympic-themed attacks and warns users to take precaution when surfing the Net for news, widgets or applications related to the Olympics.
'Cybercrooks have already taken advantage of the world's attention on the Beijing games with malware and data-thieving phishing attacks,' said Dave Marcus, research and communications director at McAfee Avert Labs. 'With the Olympic Games kicking off today, the number of attacks is likely to increase and continue as the event progresses.'
Five tips to avoid falling for an Olympics malware or phishing trap:.
- Don't open e-mail messages from people you don't know. - Don't open suspicious e-mail attachments. - Be wary of free downloadable software. - Don't click on links in e-mail messages. - Keep your operating system, Web browser and security software up-to-date.
