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Fraudsters exploit vulnerabilities to target online shoppers

Online criminals are taking advantage of cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities in order to direct phishing attacks at unsuspecting shoppers, it has been reported.

Coming as growing numbers of people turn to the internet in a bid to save money on their shopping, a new report from Netcraft has warned that a 'new wave' of phishing attacks is currently being directed at online auction site eBay.

In addition to making use of XSS vulnerabilities, experts have also noticed criminals exploiting wildcard DNS records, enabling them to fraudulently log in to the site and target individuals and small businesses.

The report added: "The fraudsters have made the attacks look all the more convincing by making the hostnames look similar to those used by the genuine eBay login page."

At the same time, the Federation of Small Businesses has revealed that 54 per cent of smaller firms have been the victim of cybercrime at least once in the past 12 months, with 37 per cent admitting to have been the victims of a phishing attack.

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