Telecom letter "security warning" - what's behind it?

Many Telekom customers receive a letter with a security warning. Security warnings via email are also not uncommon. In this way, Telekom is trying to warn victims of cyber crime at an early stage. We will explain what this Telekom Post is all about and what to do if you are affected.

What does the security warning letter from Telekom mean?

Telekom is one of the largest telecommunications companies. You get worldwide internet activities. In the event of suspicious online activities, they are warned by their customers or by security organizations. You may also notice them yourself. Unfortunately, the security warning in the mailbox is not uncommon:

• Not only in the CHIP Forum, Telekom customers are often surprised by the security warning in the mailbox.
• Telekom customers are warned that they are infected by Trojans or that apparently unauthorized persons are using your email account.
• According to Deutsche Telekom, "several tens of thousands of customers per month" are first warned via email and then by post.
• For example, hacked email accounts are misused to send spam emails. Or an infected PC takes part in a cyberattack, such as a DDoS attack, unnoticed.
• NTT, the third largest telecommunications company in the world, wants to establish its innovation GTIP in the market by 2020, which recognizes sources and targets of worldwide hacker attacks. Large corporations in particular should receive security warnings in real time and not only learn that they were attacked, but also by whom.

What should I do?

If in doubt, first ask Telekom Support whether the letter is genuine and get more detailed information on the date of the infection or the exact nature of the threat. If only your email account was hacked, it may be sufficient to change the password. However, if your emails contain user data from other websites, you should also change all passwords here. If Telekom diagnosed you with a virus in the letter or via support, you need time and perseverance. Follow these steps:

• Compile a list of websites on which you have logged in from your PC.
• If necessary, find your customer data and TAN lists together.
• Now you can change your user data from a trusted person's PC, such as a friend or family member.
• It is best to start with online banking and then go to websites that have a direct debit, such as PayPal and Amazon.
• It is also best to download at least one rescue disk, for example from Avira or Kaspersky.
• Now you can clean all PCs at home that were on the Internet via your Telekom connection.
• First disconnect them from the internet. Now start your computer from the Rescue CD.
• Back up your most important data and carry out a virus scan.
• Ideally, you should set up your PC from scratch. Because even if one of your virus scanners finds what you are looking for, you are definitely not virus-free.
• To be more secure in the future, you should not start your PC as an administrator, but set up a user account with limited rights.