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Phishing more dangerous as cyber crooks get personal

Cyber crooks are becoming more sophisticated and concentrating their efforts on phishing, which is more difficult to detect, rather than spamming, which many internet users are used to, reports the Financial Times.

In a feature article analysing the changing trend, the newspaper states that phishing, which involves cyber crooks trying to steal account information or installing illicit programmes, is becoming more personalised.

"This is a trend change, from global to targeted. It is now senior executives in major financial institutions," internet security expert Richard Howard of iDefense told the FT.

"And the bad guys aren't just after retail accounts but big commercial accounts. An e-mail asks you to go to a specific web page, and once you are there, they own you."

His opinion is shared by another online security expert, Rik Ferguson, who says this type of crime "isn't bedroom coders any more - it's a mainstream business" involving the creation of malware every six seconds.

The only solution apart from having proper internet security software is to "never ever, ever" click on links in emails.

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