The risks that worry us
What keeps you up at night? These are the biggest risks facing our world in 2019. Top world leaders were surveyed for the latest edition of the World Economic Forum's Global Risks Report. Environmental threats dominate the list for the third year in row - both in terms of impact and likelihood.
“Of all risks, it is in relation to the environment that the world is most clearly sleepwalking into catastrophe,” the report warns. What are the Top 10 biggest ? The report offers a unique perspective on the threats facing our world, by looking at not only those that are most likely, but also those that would have the biggest impact. Check out #4:
What worries IT leaders?
When KnowBe4 recently asked IT leaders ... Read More
Tax season is new window of opportunity...for cybercriminals
Experts warn of uptick in phishing attacks against businesses leveraging Office 365 as the tax season begins, tensions run high, and opportunities to trick off-guard users will be plenty.
Cybercriminals want two things to exist when they attack: First, they want a gullible victim who will fall for a scam email. Second, they want either an immediate payoff, or a quick way to gain access to data that will turn into money quickly.
So, the combination of Office 365 users and tax season create a volatile and dangerous mix for businesses. Phishing scams related to taxes not being filed, unexpected refunds, changes to banking details, or huge tax bills are sufficient enough to get unsuspecting users to click on malicious ... Read More
The phish attack obtained banking details
Three Wichita State University employees fell prey to a common phish attack asking for their credentials, giving cybercriminals access to change banking details.
We’ve said it time and time again: the cybercriminals do their homework. In the case of the attack on WSU employees, cybercriminals spoofed the university’s payroll system and sent emails to employees tricking them into providing their university ID and password. That was all the attackers needed to gain full control to the employee’s profile, personal data, and most importantly – banking information.
Where's my paycheck?
It wasn’t until a number of employees did not receive their paychecks that the scam was found out. At least three members of the WSU staff fell for the scam, allowing cybercriminals to alter the ... Read More
Cybersecurity starts with your users
Your cybersecurity trained employees are a central component of your security posture, according to Freaky Clown (FC), CEO and Head of Ethical Security at Cygenta.
FC is a professional red teamer who tests the security of organizations by breaking into them. FC talked to Carole Theriault in part two of an interview on the CyberWire’s Hacking Humans podcast.
FC says that managers are often surprised by how far he can get without being caught, because employees don’t know to watch out for threats. He describes a number of unusual situations in which he has convinced employees to participate in strange activities, such as building teepees with their coats as a team building exercise, or setting up a bar in a government building. “You can ... Read More
Passwords get stolen and sold
The bad guys are constantly coming out with new ways to hack into your network and steal your organization’s confidential information.
Verizon's recent Data Breach Report showed that 81% of hacking-related breaches used either stolen or weak passwords. And, a new survey from Dark Reading shows 44% of organizations say users pose the greatest threat to data security!
Find out if your users are putting a big target on your organization’s back
KnowBe4’s Password Exposure Test (PET) is a new and complimentary IT security tool that allows you to run an in-depth analysis of your organization’s hidden exposure risk associated with your users.
PET makes it easy for you to identify users with exposed emails publicly available on the web, and checks your Active Directory to see if they are using weak or compromised ... Read More
AI and facial recognition are dangerous
As I proofread this post, Facebook users are jumping on a new fad. They are posting pictures of themselves 10 years ago and today. They do this to show much they have aged, or have not aged, in 10 years. I think this is dangerous. AI can take these facial images, superimpose your face on an image and then defraud you.
This starts to be more than a bit concerning. The faces in this post (below) look like pretty normal humans. They could be social media shots. However, they were generated by a recent type of algorithm: generative adversarial network, or GAN.
Nvidia researchers Tero Karras, Samuli Laine, and Timo Aila posted details of the method to produce completely imaginary fake faces with ... Read More
When people mention AI, or artificial intelligence, do you feel lost?
Do you feel confused when your coworkers talk about AI? You're not alone! Many people don't understand artificial intelligence, and that can be scary. It is becoming a big part of many jobs. If you don't learn about it soon, you might lose your job.
Work faster and smarter
The good news is… there's an easy way to catch up. The book AI for Beginners can teach you all about artificial intelligence in simple words. It explains things like how artificial intelligence helps with research and writing. You'll learn how to work faster and smarter.
Don't let yourself feel lost anymore. If you don't learn it now, you might lose out on job opportunities or worse, lose your ... Read More
2FA can be beaten
A new phishing attack method shows that even the mighty Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) can be beaten without needing to possess a user’s mobile device.
We’d like to think that using 2FA surrounds the logon process with such a high level of security that it can’t be broken. But a recent phishing attack shows that simple mix of social engineering and quick backend hacking can successfully work around the most basic of 2FA – two-factor, SMS one-time password (OTP) authentication.
Researchers at Certfa Labs recently identified the attack scheme created by the cybercriminal group Charming Kitten (who hacked HBO back in 2017). The phishing attack uses the Google’s Site Service (which uses the subdomain sites.google.com) to establish credibility and to deceive their potential victims.
Fake notices to Google users
Users are initially ... Read More
12 Ways to Hack MFA
Special thank you to Author Roger Grimes, KnowBe4's Data-driven Defense Evangelist.
It was a standing room-only crowd when I gave it at Blackhat USA in Las Vegas this year, and I’m giving it again at this coming year’s RSA. If you’re interested in seeing it before then, do an Internet search on ’12 Ways to Hack 2FA Grimes’ and you are sure to get lots of opportunities to view one of the many previous presentations.
It seems to have hit a digital nerve with computer defenders and end-users alike. I think the reason it is so interesting is that it is surprising to many people that multi-factor authentication (MFA) does not protect you from hackers (including simple phishing) as much as you would ... Read More
Phishing campaign tricks financial industry employees
Researchers at Menlo Labs have spotted a new phishing campaign aimed at tricking employees of US banks and financial firms into downloading Houdini Malware.
It’s no surprise that cybercriminals are going where the money is – in this case, literally. A phishing campaign that has been running since August has been identified seeking to compromise business endpoints using a combinations of tactics:
Reputation Jacking – all of the files were hosted on Google’s Cloud Storage (storage.googleapis.com). This use of well-known, popular hosting services helps to avoid detection. (According to Menlo Lab’s most recent Annual State of the Web Report, 4,600 phishing sites used legitimate hosting services.
Archived Files – the files linked to in these campaigns were zip or gz archive files, further obfuscating the malicious payload.
... Read More