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The Business Blog at Intuitive.com
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Dave Taylor has been involved with the online world since 1980 and
is recognized globally as an expert on both technical and business
issues. He has been published over a thousand times, launched four Internet-related
startup companies, has written twenty business and technical books and holds both an MBA and MS Ed.
He's a columnist for the Boulder Daily Camera and
Linux Journal and frequently appears
in other publications both online and in print.
Additionally, Dave maintains four weblogs:
The Business Blog at Intuitive.com,
Ask Dave Taylor,
Dave On Film,
and
GoFatherhood.
Based in beautiful Boulder, Colorado, Dave is an award-winning speaker, sought after conference and workshop participant and
frequent guest on radio and podcast programs, as well as active member of
his community and busy single father to three children.
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Wall Street Journal warns about phishing
One of the greatest banes of modern computing is the scourge of so-called phishing attacks. You know what I'm talking about: email that purports to come from Paypal, eBay, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Chase Manhattan, or a raft of other sites, asking you to log in and correct or update some aspect of your personal record or account.
When you click on the link, however, you don't go to the real Web site, you go to an elaborate mockup, a different site that has all the right graphics and design (since it's easy to steal HTML code) but funnels your account and password directly into a nefarious hacker's database, for them to break into your real account and do as they like.
In this brave new world (yes, that's sarcasm) it's interesting to get the following email message from the Wall Street Journal Online, where I'm a paid subscriber...
Here's what I received:
We would simply like to remind you that we do not sell Wall Street Journal Online subscriber information to third parties. If you have opted in to receive third-party offers from our advertisers, we may send email to you on their behalf, but it is sent from The Wall Street Journal Online or Dow Jones, not from the advertiser.
Also, we do not require that you respond directly to an email to keep your Online Journal subscription active. From time to time we may remind you to update your account information, but we will always direct you to make changes on the "My Account/Billing" page within your Online Journal account. In addition, you can always contact an Online Journal Customer Service representative to make changes or update your account information.
If you doubt the legitimacy of any Wall Street Journal Online email or if you have any questions, please contact us.
Thank you,
The Wall Street Journal Online Customer Service
inquiries@interactive.wsj.com
1-800-369-2834 (or 609-514-0870): 7am to 12am ET, Monday-Friday.
I appreciate that the WSJ is proactively warning me about phishing attempts, but since I've never received one purporting to be from the Journal, it's an interesting message nonetheless. If I was a hacker and could rip off eBay passwords, Paypal accounts or even a bank account, it's obvious the mischief I could wreak (or worse), but the Wall Street Journal?
What damage can someone do if they have my account and password? As far as I know, it would only let them also access the premium content on the site, not add additional services, wire money to a third party, or even post responses to major Journal articles.
Nonetheless, by having sent this message, it's clear that some of the Wall Street Journal Online team are concerned that phishing attempts are masquerading as messages from them. So, again, be wary, just like you should be from any message asking you to click on a link to log in to your account.
Related articles: Paypal still emails customers? and what are pharming and phishing?
Hmmmm, if they had access to your WSJ account, would that in any possible way give them access to your credit card info? Probably not, but ya never know, so it might be worth looking into it.
But I agree -- maybe WSJ is overestimating its own attractiveness here...
- Amy Gahran
Editor, CONTENTIOUS
They may be able to access your profile - name, address, home phone number, etc. and since people re-use passwords on multiple sites (even if doing so is not prudent) -- compromising one account could lead to compromises of others...
Rajesh Harbhajan
Green Armor Solutions
http://www.greenarmor.com
rajeshh -DO-NOT-SPAM-ME-AT greenarmor.com
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The Business Blog
