Hackers get World Cup fever

Hacktivist group Anonymous is at it again, this time targeting Brazilian websites apparently in protest of Brazil’s costly hosting of the FIFA World Cup. While more traditional protests had been going on for many months with only nominal impact and attention, Anonymous immediately gained the media spotlight after claiming through Twitter to have hacked over 100 websites, including Brazil’s federal police website. Many of the website attacks consisted of Denial of Service assaults or simple defacements, but Anonymous sharply made their point by posting a list of logins and passwords purportedly from the police website, as well as claiming to also have harvested numerous operations documents and email exchanges.

What this means for you:

Just like any hot media item, hackers will be leveraging the globe’s enthusiasm for the World Cup, and it’s likely you will see spam and phishing attempts based around news, events and celebrities of the sport. As always, avoid clicking links in emails unless you can verify they lead to legitimate websites. Cybercriminals will also be counting on plenty of people searching for news about World Cup matches, so make sure you examine your search results carefully and only visit websites you know and trust.  Don’t rely just on your antivirus software to protect you – use your common sense laced with a healthy dose of skepticism to avoid hackers scoring a goal on you.