Don’t be fooled by fake news     

How often do you fall victim of reading something only to find out it is fake news?  It’s easy to get sucked in by what’s being said.  Social media is a magnet for such false information and now that’s spreading to Google alerts.

The latest in cyber crime comes with the news of the End of Life for Adobe Flash Player which Adobe no longer supports from 31 December 2020.  Hackers have found a way to sabotage Google by creating fake news stories and links online. 

When an unsuspecting victim types in popular key words, a Google Alert pushes out a notification to people following those keywords.  The hackers hope is that these people will then click on what they see as a genuine article only to find it is fake news and contains malware (but they won’t be aware of this!).  The hackers are using the End of Life for Adobe Flash Player as their catch and encouraging users to download a replacement/update, and it’s this that contains the malware. 

It’s easy to get drawn into such updates as they appear so genuine and why would you question anything that appears to have come from a legitimate source such as Google? 

With Adobe being a hot topic currently, it’s important to keep your guard up.  If you do find you have inadvertently downloaded malicious software or are concerned by suspicious links or downloads, notify your IT department immediately.