Phishing E-mails Target Inmates of Indiana University

Phishers are dispatching persuasive appearing e-mails to students, teachers as well as staff members of the Indiana University (IU) at Indiana, USA, so inform UITS (University Information Security) officers and which idsnews.com published on January 16, 2013.

UITS Official Andrew Korty states that the e-mails that display the Indiana University logo while accurately referring to the University Information Technology Services, encourage receivers towards clicking a web-link leading onto certain form inside Google Drive wherein to key in passphrase details to access University associated A/Cs, published idsnews.com.

The scam messages also threat that non-provision of the recipients' University pass-phrase will mean breaching the e-mail rules of UITS; consequently, it'll render their A/Cs inoperative.

Fraudulent e-mails soliciting personal information, giving into spoofed or phishing scams happened often, stated Solutions Architect Scott Wilson of Enterprise Assurance Systems of the UITS office, according to idsnews.com.

He stated that the sole distinguishable issue in the current e-mail scam was that it got plentiful particulars exact.

The contact details of UITS related to both IU-Purdue and IU-Bloomington University Indianapolis were as well accurately mentioned while signing off the electronic mail.

According to Wilson, the University policy doesn't permit any IU affiliate for requesting any staff member or student to provide their passphrase. It also doesn't permit for supplying one's own private credentials else utilizing somebody else's passphrase, he says. Wbiw.com reported this, January 18, 2013.

And though according to the rule, passphrase should solely be utilized for University associated A/Cs, the advice is applicable for any personal information whatsoever, says Wilson. He adds that anyone getting an e-mail he doubts is a phishing message must avoid following web-links alternatively answering it while actually erasing it wholly. Also, incase a dubious looking e-mail seems as arriving from a known source its recipient must confirm its authenticity, he further adds.

Meanwhile, in a similar phishing e-mail scam targeting universities recently, the University of West Florida was hit during the last semester, as news dated January 13, 2013 described e-mails telling pupils they required following a web-link and providing personal UWF password for their Gmail account in 72-hrs else face A/C deactivation.

Related article: Phishing Attacks, Growing in Sophistication

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