Prankster Plants Fake Survey to Dupe Media and Internet Users
Recently, several reputed news websites including CNN, BBC, and Forbes reported the findings of a survey of over 100,000 people conducted by an organization called AptiQuant. The survey reportedly claimed that users of Internet Explorer (IE) have lower Intelligent Quotient (IQ) compared to users of other web browsers such as Mozilla’s Firefox, Apple’s Safari and Google’s Chrome. Many blog sites also published the inferences drawn by the survey. Some security researchers and journalists later suspected the story when repeated attempts to contact the company failed. It has now turned out that the news was a hoax as acknowledged by the prankster on AptiQuant’s website. The person indicated that the website was registered only a fortnight ago, used data from the reports of Central Test – a legitimate psychometric test publisher and included non-existent contact address. The site directed visitors to a PDF file for viewing the full report.
Fortunately, in this case, the person behind the hoax did not have any malicious intentions. However, the prankster may still be subject to legal action for wrong claims and use of data pertaining to other companies. Cybercriminals may create similar schemes to attract attention of Internet users and entice them to download malware-ridden documents or software. Scammers are increasingly making use of search engine poisoning and social engineering to entice users to visit a malicious website. The content of the sites appear strikingly similar to that of a legitimate website. Internet users must be skeptical of news or information, which looks too good to be true or makes fictitious claims. They must ascertain the authenticity of the person or organization providing the information. They must resist from clicking on suspicious links on websites, Instant Messengers (IM) and e-mails. They may leverage online IT courses and online degree programs to understand and implement security fundamentals.
Scammers may also attempt to trap employees of an organization to download malware and extract privileged information from the company’s websites. As can be seen in the latest case, several high profile media organizations were duped by the false news. Professionals qualified in IT and computer science degree programs may help an organization to create awareness among employees and enhance resistance to sophisticated cyber-threats.
Cyber security researchers and professionals must constantly keep track of the latest happenings in the IT environment and self-pace their learning requirements through iPad training and online university degree programs.
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EC-Council University is based in Albuquerque, New Mexico and offers Master of Security Science (MSS) degree to students from various backgrounds such as graduates, IT Professionals, and military students amongst several others. The MSS is offered as a 100% online degree program and allows EC-Council University to reach students from not only the United States, but from all around the world.
EC-Council is a member-based organization that certifies individuals in cybersecurity and e-commerce skills. It is the owner and developer of 16 security certifications, including Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), Computer Hacking Forensics Investigator (CHFI) and EC-Council Certified Security Analyst (ECSA)/License Penetration Tester (LPT). Its certificate programs are offered in over 60 countries around the world.
EC-Council has trained over 80,000 individuals and certified more than 30,000 members, through more than 450 training partners globally. These certifications are recognized worldwide and have received endorsements from various government agencies including the U.S. federal government via the Montgomery GI Bill, Department of Defense via DoD 8570.01-M, National Security Agency (NSA) and the Committee on National Security Systems (CNSS). EC-Council also operates the global series of Hacker Halted security conferences
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