The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation has issued a new advisory for law firms and PR companies to take heed of:

By way of an ongoing FBI investigation, it’s been found that hackers are increasingly targeting U.S. law firms and public relations groups with spear phishing e-mails containing malicious payloads, in an attempt to break into their computer networks to steal sensitive information.

According to the FBI’s e-scam advisory:

“Hackers exploit the ability of end users to launch the malicious payloads from within the network by attaching a file to the message or including a link to the domain housing the file and enticing users to click the attachment or link. Network defense against these attacks is difficult as the subject lines are spoofed, or crafted, in such a way to uniquely engage recipients with content appropriate to their specific business interests.”

For full details, read the FBI's warning or The New York Times’ recent coverage on this.