Hotmail Phishing Scam Also Took In Gmail Users

Simple precautions can keep info out of scammers' hands

(NEWSER) - Phishing scams are becoming a lot more sophisticated. Unwary Internet users can easily end up with their bank account and credit card details in the hands of crooks. CNET lists the best ways to avoid becoming a victim:

• Change passwords regularly. Experts recommend that passwords be changed every three months or so, and warn against using the same password for multiple sites.
• Click with caution. Any apparently legitimate email asking you to click a link to another site—especially if it mentions updating security information—could be from a rogue site. It's safer just to type in the URL yourself.

Officials' personal accounts may have been compromised

(NEWSER) - Those alleged Gmail hackers from China weren't messing around: They went after the White House, reports the Wall Street Journal . It remains unclear exactly who was targeted or whether any sensitive information was compromised, but the hackers were apparently hoping that high-ranking officials were conducting government business on their personal accounts. The practice is officially prohibited but generally considered to be widespread because private emails have more protection from official investigations and FOI requests. More»

Google attempts to make email service more social

(NEWSER) - Google is planning a new social networking feature for Gmail that allows users to see a feed of status updates and other information from their friends. The feature, which could be rolled out this week, will add a window to Gmail that displays a rolling count of the away messages and current status users enter in Gchat. More»

Operation may have thousands more; Microsoft investigating

(NEWSER) - Names and passwords for at least 10,000 compromised Hotmail email accounts were made public today, and Microsoft says it's investigating. A list of account names and passwords that was posted to a software development forum may only be a small part of the cache of stolen info—it consisted entirely of accounts that began with the letter A or B, the BBC reports. More»

Challenge issued ahead of security conference

(NEWSER) - Google is challenging hackers to find holes in its Chrome browser—with a sweetener. The company is offering a total of $1 million in prizes to people who can find bugs or vulnerabilities in Chrome at next week's CanSecWest security conference in Vancouver, reports Wired . Hackers stand to win $60,000 for a "full Chrome exploit" using only bugs found in Chrome, $40,000 for a "partial exploit" using a Chrome bug plus a bug elsewhere, or a $20,000 "consolation reward" for a Chrome hack using bugs found in Flash or Windows. More»