Story = Osama Bin Laden's death has generated a surge of online scams, spam and e-mails, according to security firm Symantec.
“As with other global news events, like the Royal Wedding and the recent Japan earthquake, cyber criminals are already coming out in full force to capitalise on news related to Osama bin Laden's death, armed with poisoned spam samples, 419 scams and e-mails advertising 'unseen footage' from bin Laden's last moments,” advises Symantec.
The explosion of scams advertising footage of bin Laden's death have also made their way to social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. The high interest in the news event is causing the scams to spread like wildfire.
Symantec says that more than four million page views per second are being recorded on major news Web sites and, as such, people are advised to use best practices when searching for information online.
People are advised to use a trusted security suite to protect one's computer against unknown threats. “You can also take advantage of free, downloadable tools like Norton Safe Web Lite and Norton Safe Web for Facebook to identify risky sites before you click on them,” says Symantec.
“Don't open e-mails or attachments from people you don't know. Online criminals commonly use shocking or sensational headlines in e-mails to lure people into falling for online scams.”
Symantec also advises people to beware of shortened links found on social networking news feeds. “They may be directing you to fake Web sites laden with malicious software.
“Manually enter Web site addresses into your browser to make sure you're getting the news from trusted Web sites.”
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