Spear Phishing Attack Nets Criminals $495,000
Posted by: Timothy Weaver on 05/06/2016 10:49 AM
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Another phishing attack nets the cybercriminals $495,000.
There are currently two types of spear phishing attacks going on. In the first instance, the phishing emails are attempting to snatch W-2 tax forms, from unknowing workers. With this info, the criminals will attempt to file false tax returns and harvest the vast amount of personally identifiable information (PII) found in these documents.
The second form of phishing email tries to convince an unsuspecting employee to believe he or she is getting a legit email from a superior who is requesting a money transfer to a bank.
The first type of phishing email, according to a Mimecast study, is increasing by 43 percent. The second type has seen an increase of 67 percent.
Mimecast Cybersecurity Strategist Orlando Scott-Cowley said: "To be honest we're seeing both types of whaling on the rise. There is evidence to suggest the cyber criminals are using malware resident on the machine, such as Dridex, to give them enough intelligence on a target to help them decide what type of attack to carry out. So an HR user might be targeted with a W-2 style attack, whereas as a finance user would be stung with financial fraud. Then again domestic or low-value targets might just be sent a crypto malware instead, so as to extort a few hundred Bitcoin from them.”
Source: SCMagazine
There are currently two types of spear phishing attacks going on. In the first instance, the phishing emails are attempting to snatch W-2 tax forms, from unknowing workers. With this info, the criminals will attempt to file false tax returns and harvest the vast amount of personally identifiable information (PII) found in these documents.
The second form of phishing email tries to convince an unsuspecting employee to believe he or she is getting a legit email from a superior who is requesting a money transfer to a bank.
The first type of phishing email, according to a Mimecast study, is increasing by 43 percent. The second type has seen an increase of 67 percent.
Mimecast Cybersecurity Strategist Orlando Scott-Cowley said: "To be honest we're seeing both types of whaling on the rise. There is evidence to suggest the cyber criminals are using malware resident on the machine, such as Dridex, to give them enough intelligence on a target to help them decide what type of attack to carry out. So an HR user might be targeted with a W-2 style attack, whereas as a finance user would be stung with financial fraud. Then again domestic or low-value targets might just be sent a crypto malware instead, so as to extort a few hundred Bitcoin from them.”
Source: SCMagazine
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