Social networking site
Twitter has been hit by phishing and spam attacks.
Twitter members are warned to be on guard against an evolving
attack that threatens to steal personal information, said security
firm Sophos.
Thousands of Twitter users have reported receiving messages from
friends inviting them to click on a link to funny pictures or blog
articles about the recipients.
Celebrity
Stephen
Fry is among those who unwittingly clicked on the link without
realising it was a phishing attempt.
"Lawks. Hope I haven't been phished for all my details. Clicked
on scam URL last night before I knew what it was," he said in a
recent posting known as a Tweet.
Fry's account is not believed to have been compromised, but
Sophos said the links take users to a bogus Twitter page that
steals users' login names and passwords.
Having hacked into Twitter accounts with information from the
phishing attack, cybercriminals are using the compromised Twitter
identities to send spam to other users.
These messages claim that recipients could win an Apple iPhone
by clicking on a link.
Twitter users who may have lost control of their accounts need
to change their passwords before more harm is done, said Graham
Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos.
"Compromised social networking accounts are valuable for hackers
as they can use them as a springboard for spam campaigns, identity
theft and other crimes," he said.