Phishing Attack Reported at Governor's Mansion

State IT officials are investigating a phishing attack that was carried out at Gov. Nathan Deal’s official residence in Buckhead on Wednesday.

An aide to Gov. Deal alluded to the attack on Wednesday evening, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports, when he mentioned that a volunteer accidentally infected the mansion’s WiFi network with a ‘phishing virus.’

Phishing attacks begin when the victim receives an e-mail from a criminal claiming to be from a trustworthy entity that needs private information like passwords or bank account numbers for a seemingly legitimate reason. If the victim provides the needed information, the crook has all he or she needs to gain unauthorized access to the victim’s personal and financial information and steal from them.

Georgia Technology Authority spokeswoman Paula Calhoun tells Patch that agency leadership is working with the Governor’s office to investigate the security breach. Investigators will conduct a forensics review of the incident to determine if any sensitive information was stolen during the attack.