Phishers Hacked Sarkozy’s Bank Account

A phishing operation that successfully targeted and turned Nicolas Sarkozy, President of France, into a victim has prompted the French government to condemn online security.

According to reports, Sarkozy informed about the scam in September 2008; however, no person still has been identified as the culprit.

Confirming the reports, the French government officials stated that Sarkozy had a number of small amounts of money stolen from his internet bank account, following the theft of his private login information and access details, as reported by fineextra on October 20, 2008.

According to the reports, an investigation was launched into the matter as soon as the French President noticed that the money was missing from his bank account and informed the police about the incident, said the Du Dimacnhe journal, which first reported the story, as reported by fineextra on October 20, 2008.

And while talking to Radio J., Luc Chatel, a Government Spokesman, said that the government would determine the way the fraud was committed so that the perpetrators could be recognized, as reported by AFP on October 19, 2008.

Meanwhile, sources told AFP, the French news agency, that the phishers who hacked the French president's account possibly were not aware that it was the money of the head of the state of France.

Also, as per the reports, the phishing attack represented a typical instance of data theft, possibly by a single or a number of low-level swindlers.

Graham Cluley, Senior Technology Consultant, Sophos said that with Sarkozy's account being compromised, the French President was the most recent political personality to fall prey to hackers. He said that last month (September 2008), Sophos reported the hack of Sarah Palin's e-mail account, while Barack Obama was the target of a spam campaign, as reported by SecurityPark on October 20, 2008.

Further, according to Cluley, the interesting part was the way the cyber criminals managed to capture the password of what is expected to be a protected account, indicating that no one is safe from hackers.

Related article: Phishers Expand Their Sphere of Attacks

» SPAMfighter News - 11/4/2008