Phishing Scam Attacks Kent State University

Tom Beitl, Executive Director of Infrastructure and Operations, Kent State University, said that a phishing scam is circulating in the inboxes of the university. It was sent around midnight on September 7, 2008 to almost 235 students, faculty and staff, as reported by kentnewsnet on September 9, 2008.

As per the security experts, phishing is a technique used by hackers to deceive Web users to divulge their private details. The fake mail appears to have come from Kent State University and asks users to send their surname and password information to prevent their mail accounts from being blocked.

Also, these phishing scams were sent using the present Web page address or mail and they generally ask users to divulge their private details like account numbers, full name and social security number. Although the origin of e-mail has not yet found, the university sources information claim that the university is checking with its vendor.

Moreover, University's Information Services receive around 5 Million mails per day, out of which 4.5 Million are spam. The University's Information Technology User Support officials said that usually, the information services are able to detect these kinds of mails but this e-mail entered undetected, probably, because 'it is so simple'.

Besides, the university office receives several reports every week of phishing mails and numerous attacks on the network of the university. The university officials also added that the hackers do not belong to the Kent State. Rather, they hail from places where the details are not secured tightly as in the US, like Russian Business Network and Nigeria.

The officials of the university also ensure that they will never ask for the user's password. Also, asking for a password is the first indicator that the copy editor of the mail was a phishing scam.

They also advised that if students get any unknown mail, they should not open it and delete it immediately. Likewise, the university information services will never ask for user's ID or password.

Also, the phishing scams have become more rampant these days and particularly targeting educational institutions. In a similar case, students of Illinois University were targeted by phishing scam.

Related article: Phishing With A Redirector Code

» SPAMfighter News - 9/15/2008