CPSU members who are also members of Spirit Super may have received concerning news recently. Spirit Super was the subject of a malicious email attack that resulted in a password being compromised and the possibility that some personal data may have been compromised.
An employee at the fund received a phishing attack email. As a result of them opening the email a malicious party had access to their mailbox. The mailbox contained some personal data such as names, addresses, ages, email addresses, phones numbers and account balances. It did not contain any bank account information, tax file or other government identification numbers or dates of birth.
The attack was detected quickly, and measures put in place to limit access to accounts. Spirit Super has provided the CPSU updated details of the privacy breach that will hopefully answer any questions you might have and contact details if you want further information. Read that information here. If you haven’t received an email, SMS or letter from Spirit Super about this incident than you haven’t been identified as affected by this breach.
Protecting Ourselves from Cyber Attacks
Phishing attacks occur every day – thousands of times a day. Organisations spend millions to ensure they have the best possible protection – fire walls, anti-virus software, two-factor identification and more, but none of this is 100% effective.
We should all be careful about what we open. It’s good practice not to open email attachments or click on links unless you are sure about the sender. Make sure your anti-virus and other software is up to date with all the latest patches applied.
Be suspicious about anyone contacting you asking for personal information. Remain vigilant to unsolicited emails, text messages or phone calls and review the personal information you make available on social media sites like Facebook.
We all want real-time access to data and our accounts but leaves the door ajar for malicious parties, so it’s vital that we exercise caution.
