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| Google was quick to shut down the offending accounts. |
Beware the email bearing Google Docs.
The internet has been a-buzz with reports of a new phishing attack
that masquerades as a Google Doc. Relying on either addresses you don’t
know or hacked contacts from your email address book, the messages
invited others to click open a shared Google Doc, but was actually
intended to install a virus.
Emailed phishing attacks containing viruses are nothing new, of
course. In the past, would-be hackers have relied on macro-based attacks
coming through as Word doc attachments, then moved on to hyperlinks
once word began to spread about the attachments. Lately, the macro
attacks have begun to see a resurgence as a younger generation of tech
user (ones who were never told not to open unexpected attachments)
started to shy away from clicking links in emails.
Google HR and Ubisoft
This round of attacks seemed to have originated from Google HR
offering the recipient a job, to Ubisoft reaching out to gamers with
information. Other tweets throughout the day yesterday mentioned
journalists specifically as the potential target, which speaks to some
of the emails apparently originating from “sources” that pretended to
have information to disclose. Basically, any means of getting the
recipient to click on the email and then on the bogus document link were
deployed.
Accounts shut down
Fortunately, of all the methods for sending out a worm that hackers
could have tried, they had to mess with Google. For its part, Google
shut down the offending accounts and had stopped the worm’s spread
within an hour. All that you did if you fell for it
was unleash the worm on your contacts list, but that doesn’t mean you
should laugh it off and forget about it. It’s still a good idea to
change your Google account password, which is really something you
should be doing on a regular basis anyway. The company itself has stated
that there’s really no need for further security action, but that it’s a
good idea to run a Google Security Checkup against any apps you use
that rely on your Google account.
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