Hackers target Sarkozy

Computer users are being warned to ensure their PCs are properly defended against hackers, following reports that cyber-criminals have stolen money from Nicolas Sarkozy's personal bank account, says Brett Myroff, CEO of regional Sophos distributor, Sophos South Africa.

According to reports, 'small sums' were taken from the French president's bank account after the fraudsters gained access to Sarkozy's online passwords. Luc Chatel, secretary of state for consumer affairs, has confirmed that an investigation is under way. Chatel also said more needs to be done to tighten the security of Internet banking in France.

"The French president is the latest political figure to fall victim to hackers - last month we reported that Sarah Palin's e-mail account had been compromised, while Barack Obama was the subject of a malicious spam campaign," says Myroff.

"What's interesting is how the cyber-crooks managed to steal the password to access what should have been a secure account. This latest incident highlights the fact that no-one is safe and that everyone should take the necessary precautions to avoid ending up in the same boat as Sarkozy and so many others."

The French president is said to have reported the theft last month, but no one has been charged with the crime.

It appears that online banking fraud is rising rapidly in both France and the UK.

Jennifer Brunner, secretary of state of Ohio, has also confirmed that her official Web site was hacked earlier this week by unknown intruders.

Brunner, a member of the Democrat party, says no sensitive information was breached in the attack on the Web site, which was restored on Tuesday after a period of downtime.

What's particularly interesting about this case is that Ohio has been involved in a brouhaha with Republican John McCain's election campaign after allegations of voter fraud, Myroff says. Ohio is considered by many in America to be a key state in the race to the White House.

“If hackers were able to find a way to make changes to the Ohio secretary of state's Web site then they possibly had the opportunity to install malware or commit identity theft too. There's no suggestion at this time that they succeeded in doing that, but it's perhaps a timely reminder to all Web site owners to do everything they can to reduce the chances of their own Web site getting hacked,” Myroff says.

The last couple of days have seen a flurry of reports debunking a fast-spreading Internet rumour that Tom Cruise had fallen to his death while filming in New Zealand.

According to the hoax news story, the film star had plunged 20m to his death off Kauri Cliffs, in New Zealand. Cruise's publicist Jeff Raymond was quick to pour cold water over the reports, claiming rumours of the Mission Impossible star's death had been greatly exaggerated.

“The tasteless Web site called www.fakeawish.com allows visitors to enter the name of anybody (famous or otherwise) and it generates a fake news story about them. You can then send the link to your friends and family, pretending that it's true,” Myroff explains.

“This simply provides more evidence that people should not believe everything they read on the Internet.”