Cybercriminals using Microsoft Word docs to steal banking information.

Cybercriminals are attempting to compromise Microsoft Office accounts and steal user passwords, especially those used for banking, by sending malicious attachments claiming to be tax forms or other official documents.

This threat – flagged as a "critical alert" by Barracuda Security Insight, Campbell, Calif.-based cyberfraud defense firm Barracuda Networks new free threat intelligence platform –  resulted from attempts to steal user passwords by using attached to common and trusted file types, such as Word or Excel documents.

Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to CUTimes.com, part of your ALM digital membership.

Your access to unlimited CUTimes.com content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:

  • Breaking credit union news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Weekly Shared Accounts podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical coverage of the commercial real estate and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, GlobeSt.com and ThinkAdvisor.com
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.

Roy Urrico

Roy W. Urrico specializes in articles about financial technology and services for Credit Union Times, as well as ghostwriting, copywriting, and case studies. Also: writer/editor of a semi-annual newsletter for Association for Financial Technology since 1997 and history projects funded by the U.S Interior Department, National Park Service and Warren County (N.Y.).