F-Secure says it can not prove which country was behind the hack but the group had links to 'entities ' in China , Russia and Ukraine The UK Foreign Office was targeted by a group of determined and well-funded hackers over several months last year . Research published by cybersecurity firm F-Secure suggested the attack was a “ spear-phishing Attack.Phishing ” campaign in which people are sent Attack.Phishing targeted emails with a link to a false login page to trick Attack.Phishing users into giving up their username and password . The hackers created Attack.Phishing websites that looked like Attack.Phishing legitimate Foreign Office websites , including those for accessing an internal email account online . The scam is believed to have been perpetrated by hackers who call themselves the Callisto Group . F-Secure said it did not know whether the attack was successful and the National Cyber Security Centre did not say whether data had been stolen Attack.Databreach . It was discovered after the spy agency analysed a successful attack on the French broadcaster TV5Monde in 2015 . The group forced the channel ’ s scheduled programming off air for 18 hours and replaced them with a screen showing the terror group ’ s flag . The inference with the UK ’ s government follows on from an ongoing probe into the Kremlin ’ s influence on the US elections last year . Hacking groups such as DC Leaks , Fancy Bears and Guccifer 2.0 who were responsible for the leaking Attack.Databreach of damaging information about the Democrat party . The most significant attack Attack.Databreach , the leaking Attack.Databreach of thousands of private emails between senior members of the DNC to Wikileaks by Fancy Bears , lead to the resignation of DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman-Schultz .

Employees of US NGOs Fight for the Future and Free Press were targeted with complex spear-phishing attempts Attack.Phishing between July 7 and August 8 , reported today the Electronic Frontier Foundation ( EFF ) . Both organizations targeted in the attacks Attack.Phishing are currently fighting against for Net Neutrality in the US . Based on currently available evidence , the attacks appear to have been orchestrated by the same attacker , located in a UTC+3-5:30 timezone , said EFF Director of Cybersecurity Eva Galperin and EFF security researcher Cooper Quintin . At least one victim fell for the attacks `` Although this phishing campaign Attack.Phishing does not appear to have been carried out by a nation-state actor and does not involve malware , it serves as an important reminder that civil society is under attack , '' said the two today . `` It is important for all activists , including those working on digital civil liberties issues in the United States , to be aware that they may be targeted by persistent actors who are well-informed about their targets ’ personal and professional connections . '' At least one victim fell for the 70 fake emails sent Attack.Phishing during the phishing attempts Attack.Phishing . Attackers did n't deliver malware but lured Attack.Phishing victims away on a remote site designed to phish Google , Dropbox , and LinkedIn credentials . `` The attackers were remarkably persistent , switching up their attacks after each failed attempt and becoming increasingly creative with their targeting over time , '' EFF said . The most creative of the spear-phishing emails was when victims received Attack.Phishing emails with the subject line `` You have been successfully subscribed to Pornhub.com , '' or `` You have been successfully subscribed to Redtube.com , '' two very popular adult video portals . Minutes later , victims received Attack.Phishing another email made to look like Attack.Phishing it was coming from Attack.Phishing the same two services . These second emails contained explicit subject lines . Because spear-phishing emails were aimed Attack.Phishing at work emails , most victims would have been inclined to unsubscribe from the incoming emails . This was the catch , as attackers doctored the unsubscribe link , leading Attack.Phishing victims to a fake Google login screen . Attackers used different tactics as the campaign progressed The PornHub and RedTube phishes Attack.Phishing were not the only ones . Attackers also used other tactics . ⬭ Links to generic documents that asked users to enter credentials before viewing . ⬭ LinkedIn message notifications that tried to trick Attack.Phishing users into giving away LinkedIn creds . ⬭ Emails disguised to look like Attack.Phishing they were coming from Attack.Phishing family members , sharing photos , but which asked the victim to log in and give away credentials instead . ⬭ Fake email notifications for hateful comments posted on Attack.Phishing the target 's YouTube videos . When the victim followed the link included in the email , the target would have to enter Google credentials before performing the comment moderation actions . ⬭ Emails that looked like Attack.Phishing a friend was sharing Attack.Phishing interesting news stories . Used topics and subject lines include : - Net Neutrality Activists 'Rickroll ' FCC Chairman Ajit Pai - Porn star Jessica Drake claims Donald Trump offered her $ 10G , use of his private jet for sex - Reality show mom wants to hire a hooker for her autistic son In one case , one of the targeted activists received a request from a user asking for a link to buy her music . When the target replied , the attacker answered back Attack.Phishing with a Gmail phishing link , claiming the buy link did n't work . EFF experts say that victims who had two-factor authentication turned on for their accounts would have prevented attackers from logging into their profiles even if they had managed to obtain Attack.Databreach their password .

A massive phishing campaign Attack.Phishing targeting Google accounts ripped through the internet on Wednesday afternoon . Several people online across a range of industries said they received Attack.Phishing emails containing what looked like Attack.Phishing a link to a Google Doc that appeared to come from Attack.Phishing someone they know . These , however , were malicious emails designed to hijack their accounts . It 's unclear exactly how the attack works at the moment , but it does appear to be highly sophisticated . A Reddit user has a good breakdown of what happens exactly when you click on the Google Doc button . In a few words , when you click on the link , the login screen takes you to a genuine Google domain , but that domain asks you to grant access to an app called Google Docs that is not the real Google Docs . And the `` Google Docs '' app reads all your email and contacts , and then self-propagates by sending more emails . We 've also heard reports that Google Drive was down , and experienced the outage ourselves , but can not yet confirm if that is related to the attack . ( It 'd be a hell of a coincidence , although Drive appears to be working again . ) `` We have taken action to protect users against an email impersonating Google Docs , and have disabled offending accounts , '' Google said in a statement sent to Motherboard . `` We 've removed the fake pages , pushed Vulnerability-related.PatchVulnerability updates through Safe Browsing , and our abuse team is working to prevent this kind of spoofing Attack.Phishing from happening again . We encourage users to report phishing emails in Gmail . '' In a subsequent statement , Google said that the phishing campaign Attack.Phishing was halted `` within approximately an hour '' and that it `` affected fewer than 0.1 % of Gmail users . '' While that sounds low , considering that Gmail has around 1 billion users , that 's still around one million victims .

Google has stopped Wednesday ’ s clever email phishing scheme Attack.Phishing , but the attack may very well make a comeback . One security researcher has already managed to replicate it , even as Google is trying to protect users from such attacks . “ It looks exactly like Attack.Phishing the original spoof Attack.Phishing , ” said Matt Austin , director of security research at Contrast Security . The phishing scheme Attack.Phishing -- which may have circulated Attack.Phishing to 1 million Gmail users -- is particularly effective because it fooled Attack.Phishing users with a dummy app that looked like Attack.Phishing Google Docs . Recipients who received Attack.Phishing the email were invited to click a blue box that said “ Open in Docs. ” Those who did were brought to an actual Google account page that asks them to handover Gmail access to the dummy app . While fooling Attack.Phishing users with spoofed emails is nothing new , Wednesday ’ s attack involved an actual third-party app made with real Google processes . The company ’ s developer platform can enable anyone to create web-based apps . In this case , the culprit chose to name the app “ Google Docs ” in an effort to trick Attack.Phishing users . The search company has shut down the attack by removing the app . It ’ s also barred other developers from using “ Google ” in naming their third-party apps . More traditional phishing email schemes Attack.Phishing can strike by tricking Attack.Phishing users into giving up their login credentials . However , Wednesday ’ s attack takes a different approach and abuses what ’ s known as the OAuth protocol , a convenient way for internet accounts to link with third-party applications . Through OAuth , users don ’ t have to hand over any password information . They instead grant permission so that one third-party app can connect to their internet account , at say , Google , Facebook or Twitter . But like any technology , OAuth can be exploited . Back in 2011 , one developer even warned that the protocol could be used in a phishing attack Attack.Phishing with apps that impersonate Attack.Phishing Google services . Nevertheless , OAuth has become a popular standard used across IT . CloudLock has found that over 276,000 apps use the protocol through services like Google , Facebook and Microsoft Office 365 . For instance , the dummy Google Docs app was registered to a developer at eugene.pupov @ gmail.com -- a red flag that the product wasn ’ t real . However , the dummy app still managed to fool Attack.Phishing users because Google ’ s own account permission page never plainly listed the developer ’ s information , unless the user clicks the page to find out , Parecki said . “ I was surprised Google didn ’ t show much identifying information with these apps , ” he said . “ It ’ s a great example of what can go wrong. ” Rather than hide those details , all of it should be shown to users , Parecki said . Austin agreed , and said apps that ask for permission to Gmail should include a more blatant warning over what the user is handing over . “ I ’ m not on the OAuth hate bandwagon yet . I do see it as valuable , ” Austin said . “ But there are some risks with it. ” Fortunately , Google was able to quickly foil Wednesday ’ s attack , and is introducing “ anti-abuse systems ” to prevent it from happening again . Users who might have been affected can do a Google security checkup to review what apps are connected to their accounts . The company ’ s Gmail Android app is also introducing a new security feature to warn users about possible phishing attempts Attack.Phishing . It 's tempting Attack.Phishing to install apps and assume they 're safe . But users and businesses need to be careful when linking accounts to third-party apps , which might be asking for more access than they need , Cloudlock 's Kaya said . `` Hackers have a headstart exploiting this attack , '' she said . `` All companies need to be thinking about this . ''

Where there ’ s a will , there ’ s a way , and scammers are finding increasingly cunning ways to capitalise on the reach and popularity of the world ’ s global brands . This time PayPal is the target , according to Proofpoint . The company recently discovered a phishing email message which looked like Attack.Phishing a benign PayPal login , but in reality it was a “ very well crafted ” phishing webpage . The page is available in multiple languages , which makes it seem all the more legitimate and across many different regions . Behind the scenes , the phishing attack Attack.Phishing turned out to be complex and sophisticated , and Proofpoint says those are the real innovations . The phishing Attack.Phishing attempts feature embedded URLs that direct users to the fake PayPal login . This is done using a decommissioned PayPal service that allows a person to buy a gift card from a user . The phishing attack Attack.Phishing then starts with a ‘ reassuring welcome page ’ , Proofpoint says . Users are then asked to confirm the credit card information . After the phishing kit validates the card , it asks users to enter security information about the card , the link to their bank account and details and identification . Proofpoint says that the particular phishing kit shows how ‘ crimeware as a service ’ is rapidly advancing , and will become a more common technique . Proofpoint says it has notified PayPal of the phishing campaign Attack.Phishing and the findings