Important Security Notice - Hacking Attack on cii-southampton.co.uk
I regret to have to inform you of a recent "hacking" attack on the Southampton CII website http://www.cii-southampton.co.uk which may have lead to your PC being infected with malicious software (sometimes called "spyware" "badware" or "malware") that could threaten the security of your system and the integrity of your data. Please read through the following brief report, then take the recommended steps to scan and protect your PC.

What happened?
Some pages of the CII website (for example the newsletter archive and Annual Dinner photo pages) were subject to an "injection attack" scripted by an unknown hacker approximately two months ago. The password of the web server that hosts these pages was "cracked" (or stolen) and hidden code was introduced into the web pages that may have exposed visitors to those pages to malicious software. If the visitor did not have up to date anti-virus protection software it is possible that a "Trojan horse" malware programme could have been downloaded and installed by stealth, which would compromise the security of the visitors PC. For example Trojans can introduce "keystroke loggers" that track user passwords for activities such as online banking.

What do I do now?
It is essential that all recent visitors to any page of the CII website or html newsletter scan their PC for threats with updated anti-virus software such as Norton AntiVirus or MacAfee Virus Scan. If you do not have this in place or are unable to update it, download and install the A-squared free malware scanning and firewall software (recommended by the web hosting company) and scan for threats:
http://download.cnet.com/A-squared-Free-Online-Armor-Personal-Firewall-Bundle/3000-8022_4-10909642.html

What else can I do?
For further protection, download and install the two most popular free malicious software protection products:
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware:
http://download.cnet.com/Malwarebytes-Anti-Malware/3000-8022_4-10804572.html
AdAware:
http://download.cnet.com/Ad-Aware-Anniversary-Edition/3000-8022_4-10045910.html

Is my work PC damaged?
If you are running up to date anti-virus software or you are protected by a corporate firewall, it is unlikely that your PC will be affected. However if you are unsure, please forward this message to your IT department. If you visit the Southampton CII website from a home PC or laptop and do not have up to date anti-virus software in place it is vital that you follow the steps above to scan for and remove any malicious software that could have been downloaded without your knowledge.

I did not download or install any software, does this warning apply to me?
If you have visited the Southampton CII website or clicked on the html version of the newsletter in the last two months and did not have up to date anti-virus software installed, you may be unaware of the download.
Please take the time to update your anti-virus protection or install the programs suggested above, scan for threats and remove any malicious software on your PC.

What should I do if I find malicious software on my PC?
Use the software tools to delete or quarantine the malware then alert the IT department at work if you are on a corporate network.

Can the hackers steal any data from my PC?
If you did not have up to date anti-virus software installed and your systems are not protected by a corporate firewall, there is a chance that a malicious software "payload" such as a keystroke logger was delivered and successfully installed on your PC by stealth when you visited cii-southampton.co.uk. If the scanning software suggested above finds evidence of this, it is recommended that you delete the threats, install up to date anti-virus software then change the passwords on any sensitive accounts such as online banking etc.

Is the CII website safe to use?
Yes. The CII website http://www.cii-southampton.co.uk, newsletter archive and photos are now completely "clean", safe to use and free of threats. We will continue to monitor the site for your security and inform you of any possible threats.

How did this attack come to light?
Visitors to the site using the Firefox browser were alerted to the threat by a security warning, following a "crawl" of the website by Google which detected the "injected" code. Firefox can be downloaded for free here:
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/security/

Please forward this message to any colleagues in your organisation who may have visited cii-southampton.co.uk in the last two months. If you have any questions about the above please email me:
newsletter@cii-southampton.co.uk

Kind regards
Jonathan Walker
Communications Officer, Insurance Institute of Southampton