Panos Anastassiadis didn't click on the fake subpoena that popped into his inbox on Monday morning, but he runs a computer security company. Others were not so lucky.
In fact, security researchers say that thousands have fallen victim to an email scam in which senior managers such as Anastassiadis are told that they have been sued in federal court and must click on a Web link to download court documents. Victims of the crime are taken to a phony Web site where they are told they need to install browser plug-in software to view the documents. That software gives the criminals access to the victim's computer.
<A HREF="http://www.cio.com/article/334770/Criminals_Hack_CEOs_with_Fake_Subpoenas">Thistype of targeted email attack, called "spear-phishing,"</A> is a variation on the more common "phishing" attack. Both attacks use fake email messages to try to lure victims to malicious Web sites, but with spear-phishing the attackers try to make their messages more believable by including information tailored to the victim.
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