Phishing Dips into Yahoo IM

Phishing Dips into Yahoo IM

Further evidence emerged this week that phishing attacks are spreading far beyond e-mail inboxes. They also are using instant messages in the quest to trick users into divulging personal information through spoofed Web links of well-known companies.

Yahoo Messenger is the latest to come under threat by phishing. Security researchers and Yahoo Inc. confirmed that an attack had begun to spread on the IM service earlier this week.

In the attack, users receive an IM message that often appears to be coming from a buddy-list contact. The IM attempts to lull users into clicking on a URL, which then takes them to a spoofed Yahoo page requesting log-in information for their Yahoo accounts, according to an analysis by Akonix Systems Inc.

Yahoo officials said on Friday that the attack does not appear to be a widespread threat. Yahoo provides users with information about preventing phishing attacks on its security Web site, but the Sunnyvale, Calif., company has not posted any specific warnings about the latest IM-focused attack.

“Phishing is an industry-wide issue, and one that Yahoo! takes very seriously,” said spokeswoman Terrell Karlsten, in a statement. “A key defense in the fight against phishing is consumer awareness, and Yahoo! has made it a priority to help educate consumers so that they are empowered to protect themselves online.”

Phishing is a well-known problem in e-mail, where messages that spoof the identity of a legitimate company try to get users to provide personal information that can include financial account information.