As Iranians prepare to cast their vote Friday, Google issued a warning about suspicious online activity attempting to compromise tens of thousands of Gmail users over the past few weeks.
Google warned Gmail users in Iran about a possible online threat, which can compromise tens of thousands of user IDs and passwords. The search giant said that it has unearthed several email-based phishing attempts that originated within Iran and seen a sudden rise in the volume of such activities in that region. This sudden spike in the phishing campaigns in Iran comes ahead of the Presidential election, Friday.
"The timing and targeting of the campaigns suggest that the attacks are politically motivated in connection with the Iranian presidential election on Friday," Eric Grosse, Google's vice president of security engineering, wrote on a company blog, Thursday. "We notify targets of state-sponsored attacks and other suspicious activity, and we take other appropriate actions to limit the impact of these attacks on our users."
The web giant also posted a sample of the email copy, which was sent to several Gmail users, tricking them into updating their account information. The hackers' email asks users to add an alternate email address to the account through a link provided. When users click on the link, it redirects them to a bogus Google sign in page. Hackers get hold of the username and passwords of the users who sign in using their log-in credentials.
Google recalls a similar hacking attempt from the same group using SSL certificates in Iran, September 2011. But this time, the email-based phishing campaigns are "more routine," Grosse wrote.
Google urged all users in Iran to take all safety measures to protect their accounts from these hackers. Users are recommended to use updated browsers like Chrome and set up a two-factor authentication to prevent any attacks in the future.
