[ by Kavita Krishnan ]Search engine giant Google has reported that about 500 users from India were among 12,000 people informed about being targeted by ‘government-backed attackers’ between July and September this year.The disclosure comes closely on the heels of Facebook owned WhatsApp stating that an Israeli spyware called Pegasus had been used to spy on journalists and human...
Search engine giant Google has reported that about 500 users from India were among 12,000 people informed about being targeted by ‘government-backed attackers’ between July and September this year.
The disclosure comes closely on the heels of Facebook owned WhatsApp stating that an Israeli spyware called Pegasus had been used to spy on journalists and human rights activists globally, including 121 people in India. The disclosures were made by Shane Huntley from Google’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG) in a blogpost.
According to Huntley over 90 per cent of the targeted users were targeted via ‘credential phishing emails’ which are by and large attempts to obtain the target’s password or other account credentials to hijack their account.
An example cited by Huntley that explains how a phishing attempt works states that an attacker sends an authentic-looking email, which can be made to look like it was sent from Google, with a security alert. Only a subtle difference in spelling like would be the only difference and clue for the user.
A hyperlink would be sent to the user suggesting that the user secure their account. When the user clicks the link and enters his password, the attacker would be allowed to access the target’s account. A phishing attack could also masquerade as an existing website or webpage and trick a user into entering confidential information on the page.
Phishing attacks have been on the rise in the country. Dropbox were the top targeted brands when it came to phishing. India has also been one of the top countries where people are targeted through phishing attacks.
Nation states which sponsor cyber attacks are known as government-backed attack and are usually specified at a particular target. The nations sponsoring such attacks fund the cybercriminals with access to greater resources. Countries like Russia, North Korea, China, and Iran have been known to sponsor attacks through phishing and other means on people from different countries.