As the bad guys look for new ways to wreak havoc, cybersecurity experts at NTT global predict attacks pre-, during, and post-election should be expected.
One of the elements of a good phishing attack is to get the victim’s attention and motivation to click the link, open the attachment, or visit the website. What better way than to draft up a campaign that is fueled by the particularly hot political climate in the United States. According to threat intelligence analysts at NTT Global in their September 2020 Monthly Threat Report, the phishing attacks involving ransomware is just one of many forecasted attacks. In addition, the potential for attacks on election infrastructure to disrupt voting and results reporting are also of concern.
With so many local elections occurring – let alone the national election in November – its prime phishing real estate; emails can involve campaign fundraising, new details on the opposing party’s candidate, and more.
KnowBe4 has added three election-related templates to our Controversial/NSFW templates category. This category is hidden by default so customers will have to enable that category if you want to use these templates.
- Gallup: Who will you vote for in 2020? (Link)
- Important: New Election Regulations (Link)
- Check the status of your mail-in ballot (Link)
Security experts recommend making certain all systems tied to elections are patched, antimalware solutions are in place to thwart off most phishing attacks, and users are educated via Security Awareness Training to be mindful of election-themed emails, treating them with the assumption that they may be malicious in nature.
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