[HEADS UP] Cybercriminal Sells Info on 186 Million U.S. Voters

Stu Sjouwerman | Oct 23, 2020

voter registration data cybercriminalIn a recent report by NBC News, cybersecurity company TrustWave found a bad guy selling voter registration data on 186 million Americans.

This phishing attack shows how vulnerable anyone in the U.S. can be targeted by cybercriminals, along with foreign adversaries. This news comes in lieu of U.S. officials announcing that Iran and Russia obtained voter registration data in hopes of interfering with the 2020 U.S. election. 

TrustWave provided publicly available data, and the fact that so many names, email addresses, phone numbers, and voter registration records were found for sale on the dark web further proves how easy it is for the bad guys to deploy an attack. One current example is when the FBI recently reporting that Iran has tried to send emails designed to intimidate voters. 

"An enormous amount of data about U.S. citizens is available to cyber criminals and foreign adversaries", said Ziv Mador, Vice President of Security Research at Trustwave. Check out this screenshot of the documented report: 

unnamed (1)

Photo Credit: Trustwave

"In the wrong hands, this voter and consumer data can easily be used for geotargeted disinformation campaigns over social media, email phishing and text and phone scams," he added, "before, during and after the election, especially if results are contested."

As a takeaway, it's important to be cautious of any potential threat or suspicious email. New-school security awareness training can ensure your users are prepared to report potential social engineering attacks. 

NBC News has the full story

Discover Your Organization’s Phish-prone™ Percentage

Ninety-one percent of data breaches begin with spear phishing. Launch our Free Phishing Security Test for up to 100 users to uncover your team's vulnerability and see how your security posture stacks up against industry benchmarks.

Get Your Free Phishing Security Test

Secure the Digital Workforce: Human + AI

KnowBe4 empowers the human and AI workforce to make safer security decisions every day. Trusted by over 70,000 organizations worldwide, we help strengthen security culture and manage risk. Our comprehensive AI-driven platform includes awareness and compliance training, cloud email security, real-time coaching, crowdsourced anti-phishing, AI Defense Agents, agent security and more. As the only global security platform of its kind, KnowBe4 provides personalized content, tools, and techniques to keep the modern workforce safe from phishing, vishing, deepfakes, and emerging threats.

Get the latest insights, trends and security news. Subscribe to CyberheistNews.