6,000 email accounts hacked
The Reporting and Analysis Center for Information Assurance has received 6,000 addresses to e-mail accounts that have apparently been hacked and may now be misused for illegal purposes.
According to the Reporting and Analysis Center for Information Assurance (Melani) yesterday, there is a risk that the e-mail accounts with the hacked passwords will now be misused for illegal purposes (fraud, extortion, phishing, etc.).
The Reporting and Analysis Center has therefore published an online tool that anyone can use to check whether their e-mail address is affected. The tool can be downloaded at www.checktool.ch can be called up. Only the e-mail address needs to be entered for the check. This is not transmitted in plain text and is not stored, the agency assures.
Melani advises all individuals and companies to perform this check. If an email account is affected, the online tool will issue a corresponding message. In this case, Melani recommends the following measures to those affected:
- Change the password of the email account immediately.
- You should also change all other passwords used online immediately. Especially if you have used the password used for the email account for other services (online stores, e-banking, etc.) as well.
- Inform everyone listed in the email contacts to be careful when receiving emails with your sender and to check with you if in doubt.
- Check any kind of bank statements, iTunes debits, etc. in the next few weeks. If you notice any irregularities, please contact your bank or the corresponding company immediately.
