Phishing trends that persisted throughout 2018 In reviewing the Q4 2018 most clicked subject lines, Knowbe4 identified these trends. Five subject line categories appeared quarter-over-quarter throughout 2018, including: Deliveries Passwords Company Policies Vacation IT Department (in-the-wild)  (You can compare past quarterly findings here.) Additionally, three “in-the-wild subject lines” were clicked three out of four  quarters and included Amazon, Wells Fargo and Microsoft as keywords. Users are concerned about security “Clicking an email is as much about human psychology as it is about accomplishing a task,” said Perry Carpenter, chief evangelist and strategy officer at KnowBe4. “The fact that we saw ‘password’ subject lines clicked four out of four quarters shows us that users are concerned about security. Likewise, users clicked on messages about company policies and deliveries each quarter showing a general curiosity about ... Read More

Social engineering creates $1.8 Million dispute Dentons Canada LLP is locked in a $1.7 Millon dispute with its insurer after staff at the firm’s Vancouver office fell victim to an alleged social engineering attack. Here is an extract from the article with a link to the full article below: "According to Ontario Superior Court Justice Carole Brown’s recent decision in Dentons Canada LLP v. Trisura Guarantee Insurance Company, an associate at the firm was duped into transferring $2.5 million intended to clear the mortgage on a client’s property into a fraudster’s Hong Kong bank account as part of an alleged “social engineering” fraud. Transfer of funds not fraudulent Although the law firm managed to recover around $800,000, it made a claim for its net loss under a computer fraud ... Read More

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

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