A billion zombie e-mail accounts on the loose
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A few weeks ago my e-mail account was hacked. Most of the people on my address list received an e-mail telling them I was in Africa and all my belongings had been stolen, and imploring them to send money as soon as possible. It was a hoax, of course, but
The hijack of my e-mail account coincided with reports that Russian hackers had stolen the passwords for 1.2 billion e-mail accounts in the United States and Europe. Some observers are blaming the Russian FSB intelligence service, who they say were acting on President Vladimir Putin’s orders to take revenge on the West for its stance over Russia’s annexation of Crimea and role in the Ukraine war.
Whatever the truth behind this massive hacking operation, if you receive a suspicious e-mail, please do not reply, and do not send funds. Do so and you will lose money and all your e-mails. I suggest that you make a list of all your e-mail contacts and save it on an external hard disk.
Jacques Bekaert
