Super, SMShing, great!

phishingDo you know what  ‘SMShing’ is? In all probability you will not, but it something that could enter into the main stream vocabularly soon. It stands for, ‘SMS phishing’ and occurs when you receive an SMS message that is purportedly from a reputable source, such as your bank, asking for personal details. It has been around for some time, but thankfully, has not yet caught on to anywhere near the extent of its cousin, phishing.  The scam follows the approach of your bank, supposedly, urgently contacting you via SMS and you are given a telephone number to contact them. When you call the number you will get a recorded message, asking you for details such as your debit card number, PIN code etc. Once you enter those details, the message thanks you and you are then disconnected.

Colleagues at Symantec Security Response have written up a very interesting anatomy of a smashing attack and have also posted an audio file of a real smashing attempt – please follow this link to it.  As they say, to be forewarned is to be forearmed.

July 27, 2009 | Filed Under Security 

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