Fraudulent email

This morning (Friday 10 July), many reports have been received from staff and students who have received an email with the subject line

Mandatory Security Update: July 2009

The email contains a link to a web site that has been designed to look similar to our web mail login screen, but this is a fraudulent email and a bogus web site designed to fool people into revealing their login details.  Please do NOT follow the link and do NOT supply your username and password.

If you have already submitted your details then it is important to contact the ITS Help Desk as soon as possible on 020 7631 6543 or on its-helpdesk@bbk.ac.uk

This is an example of what is called a phishing attack.  Phishing is the term given to attempts made to gain sensitive information using email or other electronic communication. This news article will be expanded shortly to offer some pointers and things to look for in identifying such messages, using today's message as an example.