The Gannett Company, which owns a number of media outlets, was hit with a phishing attach that may have affected 18,000 current and former employees.

The attack was the result of a malicious email that was sent to human resources staff and was used to request a wire transfer.

According to Plixer International Director of Marketing and Strategic Relationships Bob Noel, the attack was able to compromise the Office 365 credentials of several HR employees.

“Once the hacker got control of actual employee email accounts, they were able to impersonate HR with what appeared to be a valid emails to Gannett employees (although in actuality they were themselves phishing attacks),” Noel said. “The lesson learned here is if you unexpectedly receive a digital request to provide personal information, before hitting send, you should pick up the phone and verify with the sender the legitimacy of the request.”

This is another case where hackers are becoming so proficient with phishing emails that they are able to fool even the most savvy of tech personnel.

Source: SCMagazine