NEWS: Gmail, AOL, Yahoo Mail also targeted in phishing scam

Duncan Geere — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 15:48:04 +0100

Google confirms problem is "industry-wide"

Google has confirmed that a large number of passwords to its email accounts have been stolen in an "industry-wide phishing scheme" which affects Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo Mail, AOL and a number of other service providers.

Following the news that 10,000 Hotmail passwords had been posted on the Web, a second list surfaced - this time containing 20,000 account details from a string of different account providers. Some of the accounts are old, unused and fake, but many are genuine according to the BBC.

Google said: "We recently became aware of an industry-wide phishing scheme through which hackers gained user credentials for web-based mail accounts including Gmail accounts. "As soon as we learned of the attack, we forced password resets on the affected accounts. We will continue to force password resets on additional accounts when we become aware of them".

The company added that the password issue wasn't a breach of its security, it was instead a scam where users have been tricked into giving up their passwords on what they thought were legitimate sites. These types of attacks are known as "phishing".

Security experts have recommended that if users suspect they might be affected then they should immediately change their passwords, as well as on any other sites that share the same password.

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NEWS: Hotmail passwords leaked out online?

Duncan Geere — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:13:35 +0100

Go change yours, right now

It's being reported that passwords for "thousands" of Hotmail accounts have leaked out online. An anonymous user posted details of over 10,000 accounts with user names running from A to B on a site called PasteBin, which is used by developers to share small chunks of code.

The details have been removed, but they covered @hotmail.com, @msn.com and @live.com accounts mostly based in Europe, according to Neowin, which says it saw a chunk of the list that was posted. It's believed that the passwords originate from phishing scams.

Given that the list covers just A and B, there's a good chance that C, D, E, etc lists exist too. If you're a Hotmail user, then it might be a good idea to go change your password, especially if you use it as your main email account. You should be changing it regularly, y'know.

Update: Google has confirmed that this problem is industry-wide.

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NEWS: Gmail, AOL, Yahoo Mail also targeted in phishing scam

NEWS: Hotmail passwords leaked out online?