The Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center (FS-ISAC) has warned that financial services firms, and in particular smaller ones, are being attacked at an increased rate during the coronavirus pandemic. According to FS-ISAC, phishing attacks against financial services firms increased by one-third in the first quarter of 2020. In that time period, FS-ISAC identified … Continue Reading
The New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) recently issued guidance to its regulated entities regarding heightened cybersecurity awareness as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. DFS described three primary areas of heightened risk during this time: remote working, increased instances of phishing and fraud, and third-party risks. With respect to remote working, DFS noted … Continue Reading
Google has warned users in a blog article that nation state-backed hackers are using the COVID-19 crisis to ramp up phishing attempts and, in one example, are posing as American fast food franchises and sending malicious emails with fake offers and coupons to government officials and health care workers. Google has identified over 12 government-backed … Continue Reading
In response to the coronavirus crisis, many companies have mandated that employees work from home in order to assist in slowing the spread of the virus. With more employees working from home, and a wider network to protect, security experts are warning companies to be vigilant with security measures. In addition, it is widely reported … Continue Reading
Scammers always go back to the good old scams, even when they are making bundles on new scams. Although our lives have been consumed of late with an onslaught of ransomware attacks, this past week, we have seen an uptick in good old wire fraud schemes. The uptick is so significant that it warrants a … Continue Reading
Confirming what we are seeing in the field, cybersecurity firm Cybersecurity Ventures has predicted that, globally, businesses in 2021 will fall victim to a ransomware attack every 11 seconds, down from every 14 seconds in 2019. That figure is based on historical cybercrime figures. It is estimated that the cost of ransomware to businesses will … Continue Reading
A new study by Check Point Research shows that cyber criminals are using well-known brands to lure victims into clicking on nefarious links, providing personal information or credentials, or getting users to transfer money. This is an old malware trick that we used to see and now recognize. Scammers send a phishing email after copying … Continue Reading
It’s getting difficult to keep up with the jargon of all of the new digital scams. The SaaSes in the beginning became regular business terms, such as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), and Business Processes-as-a-Service (BPaaS). But then the criminal enterprises came up with Malware-as-a-Service (MaaS), Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) and now Crime-as-a-Service (CaaS). A new Crime-as-a-Service offering is targeting … Continue Reading
After the killing of Qassem Soleimani on January 3, 2020, by the U.S. government, the cybersecurity news industry has been abuzz about whether Iran will engage in cyber terrorism, and if so, to what degree, as part of its pledge to strike back at the U.S. On January 5, Forbes reported that the first instance … Continue Reading
It has been reported by Troy Hunt, the security researcher who provides the “Have I Been Pwned” free breach notification service, that 1.4 million passwords and personal information of customers of GateHub, a cryptocurrency wallet service provider, and 800,000 customers of EpicBot gaming bot provider RuneScape are for sale on the web. According to Hunt, … Continue Reading
A recent Ponemon Institute study finds that small and mid-sized businesses continue to be targeted by cybercriminals, and are struggling to direct an appropriate amount of resources to combat the attacks. The Ponemon study finds that 76 percent of the 592 companies surveyed had experienced a cyber-attack in the previous year, up from 70 percent … Continue Reading
July 2019 was the worst month in history for health care data breaches, with a total of 50 breaches that affected more than 500 records reported to the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), according to HIPAA Journal. Those 50 reportable data breaches exposed more than 35 million individuals’ health care records. HIPAA Journal opines that … Continue Reading
Spam is invading all aspects of our online life, and of late, even our online calendars. I hadn’t thought about embedded malware in calendar invites until I read an informative krebsonsecurity.com blog article this week. I think this is something everyone should know about and be mindful of when receiving calendar invites. Calendar invites are … Continue Reading
Security research firm Gigamon has reported that the nasty cybercriminal group FIN8 may have reappeared in June after a two year silence. FIN8 is known for implementing malware on point of sale systems to steal credit card information and selling it on the dark web. FIN8 appears to be back in business with a new … Continue Reading
The United States Treasury Department came out with a report last week that concludes that business email compromises (BEC) are costing U.S. companies more than $301 million per month. The report confirms that the two industries hit the hardest by these scams are manufacturing and construction. The report, issued by the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes … Continue Reading
As reported today by Help Net Security, hackers are targeting Microsoft Office365 administrators in a new phishing campaign that can obtain and confirm credentials in real time. According to the article the attack begins with a fake Office365 notification where all the links in the message link back to fake Office365 sites at the windows.net … Continue Reading
The tension with Iran has generally increased, and it has been reported that the U.S. has launched a cyber-attack against Iran. In retaliation, the risk of Iranian-backed wiper malware attacks against U.S. businesses and government agencies has increased, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). DHS recently issued a warning to U.S. businesses to … Continue Reading
We all have been trained to look at website addresses with a critical eye to make sure they have “https,” as those websites are supposed to be secure. The “s” at the end signifies to us that it is secure. The lock at the beginning of the website address is supposed to signify that it … Continue Reading
It is not unusual for lawyers to send emails to individuals and businesses they are about to sue to engage them before they do file suit to see if a settlement can be discussed or reached. The lawyer will reach out via email with a copy of the proposed Complaint, and tell the individual or … Continue Reading
According to a recent survey of cybersecurity professionals by AT&T Cybersecurity entitled “Confidence: the perception and reality of cybersecurity threats,” phishing and cloud security threats are keeping them up at night. The survey polled 733 cybersecurity professionals attending the RSA conference and asked the respondents about what they perceive to be the biggest internal and … Continue Reading
I have been alerting clients that I know use Wipro, but may have missed some of you. It is being reported that IT outsourcing company Wipro Ltd. has been hacked through several phishing campaigns from what is believed to be a state-sponsored attacker. According to recent reports, including KrebsonSecurity, sources have stated that “Wipro’s systems … Continue Reading
The Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS) announced late last week that nine of its staff members had fallen victim to a phishing campaign and that their email boxes were compromised on January 8, 2019. The intrusion was discovered on January 28, 2019. When the intrusion was discovered, the staff members’ changed their passwords to … Continue Reading
In another round of warnings from the federal government on protecting yourself from tax return fraud and identity theft, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued its 2019 “Dirty Dozen” Campaign, designed to warn individuals about the most common tax-related phishing schemes that are focused on tax fraud and identity theft. During tax season, cyber … Continue Reading
To illustrate just how creative phishing campaigns have become, on January 30, 2019, it was reported by multiple credit unions that Bank Secrecy Act officers at credit unions around the country received emails that appeared to be from Bank Secrecy Officers at other credit unions. The emails were addressed to the actual Bank Secrecy officers … Continue Reading
