Hackers beat 2-factor protection with automated phishing attacks

Securing your online accounts with two-factor authentication can be an effective way to ward off hackers. But the system isn’t perfect. One mysterious group has been defeating the protection method in attempts to phish upwards of 1,000 people, according to the human rights group Amnesty International.

The group today published a report documenting the phishing attacks, which have been targeting journalists and activists based in the Middle East and North Africa through the use of phony emails and login pages.

The goal behind the attacks has been to trick victims into handing over access to their Google and Yahoo accounts, even when two-factor authentication is in place. “What makes these campaigns especially troubling is the lengths to which they go to subvert the digital security strategies of their targets,” Amnesty International said in its report. Read more…

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