The Evolution of the Phisher

gurps_npc writes "An article at CNN discusses the how Phishers have moved beyond the typical email scam. Last month, Secunia (Danish security firm) documented a case where a phisher somehow modified a windows host file so that when you type in the correct url in the address, it redirects you to the phisher site. Worms and spyware are being built for the purpose of phishing, and it is also believed that phishers are attempting to compromise domain name servers. If one of these go down millions could lose their security instantly, even if they themselves have maintened the security of their computers."

Comments

Re:Certificates changed?

[LithiumX]

Not very familiar with the threat level against XP?

I've tested this myself. Put up a fresh brand new install of XP. Before I could even start patching it, I had worms homing in. I think the record so far (not for me but for another article here) is 45 seconds from first boot.

By the time you get around to hitting your bank records, you're already hit. If it's a brand new computer, unless it's fully patched and defended against these specific threats, you would likely already be hit long before you browsed your first site, let alone a critical one.

Think before you flame.