
Cyber-thieves have set their sights on C-level executives with <A HREF="http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2152780,00.asp?kc=EWKNLEDP070207B">sophisticated social-engineering techniques</A> designed to steal data, according to security researchers at MessageLabs.
In its monthly report, MessageLabs recorded a sudden spike in the number of targeted attacks June 26, intercepting some 500 attacks that used emails with Microsoft Word document attachments containing malicious code.
The surge, while unusual in its magnitude, follows an increase in the number of targeted attacks MessageLabs researchers have seen during the past few years, said Mark Sunner, chief security analyst for MessageLabs, in Gloucester, England.