Security Awareness Training Blog

Social Engineering Blog

Latest social engineering news, analysis, tactics the bad guys are using and what you can do to defend your organization.

Cryptocurrencies and Email Extortion Trends

Researchers at GreatHorn have found that 98.7% of extortion emails ask for payment in Bitcoin. Most of these emails aren’t targeted, but enough people will likely fall for them that the ...
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Spear Phishing Campaign Targets Energy Companies

Researchers at Intezer have spotted a phishing campaign that’s targeting energy companies in South Korea, the United States, the United Arab Emirates, and Germany. Most of the targets are ...
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Phishbait Follows Current Events

Crisis draws opportunistic criminals, and the Kaseya ransomware incident is no different. Kaseya’s updates on the incident have included repeated warnings not to be taken in by emails or ...
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The Pandemic’s Paradigm Shift with Cybersecurity

Just over a year ago, a much-prized perk – the ability to work from home – became an everyday reality for many. ITWeb, in partnership with KnowBe4, conducted a survey to gain insight into ...
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Social Engineering and Organizational Culture

Consistent awareness training is necessary to fend off phishing attacks, according to Keatron Evans, a principal security researcher, instructor, and author with Infosec. In an interview ...
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Lazarus Group Continues Targeting Defense Contractors

North Korea’s Lazarus Group has been launching phishing campaigns against more defense contractors and engineering companies, according to researchers at AT&T Alien Labs. The ...
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87% Increase in Social Engineering Scams During the First Quarter of 2021 Compared to Q1 2020

There was an 87% increase in social engineering scams during the first quarter of 2021 compared to Q1 2020, according to Ayelet Biger-Levin from BioCatch. In an article for The Paypers, ...
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It Was Only a Matter of Time: The Ransomware Ecosystem Has Given Birth to VC Investors

Security firm LIFARS confirms that cybercriminals are acting like venture capital investors, funding startup cybercriminal organizations, such as Darkside Ransomware.
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New IcedID and QBot Phishing Campaigns Are Running Amuck

Researchers at Kaspersky recently spotted two widespread phishing campaigns delivering the IcedID and QBot banking Trojans. The majority of users targeted by the IcedID campaign were ...
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Almost All LinkedIn User’s Data Has Been Scraped and is Up for Sale on the Dark Web

700 Million LinkedIn user’s personal details were posted for sale earlier this month, putting 92% of their userbase at risk of social engineering and spear phishing attacks.
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35% of Cybersecurity Incidents are Business Email Compromise (BEC) Phishing Attacks

With cybercriminals looking for the fastest means to get from attack to a big payout, BEC attacks are shifting tactics to adjust to organizations being better prepared.
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Misconfigured Cloud Database Increases Risk of Social Engineering

DreamHost, a major website hosting provider, exposed 814 million user account records in an unsecured database, researchers at Website Planet have found. The data exposed included a ...
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Threat Actors use Google Ads to Target People Migrating to Encrypted Messaging Services like Signal and Telegram

Researchers at eSentire warn that threat actors have been using Google Ads to target people migrating from WhatsApp to other encrypted messaging services, particularly Signal and Telegram.
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Attackers Abuse Google Docs for Phishing Attacks

Attackers are using a new technique to exploit Google Docs for phishing attacks, according to researchers at Avanan. The attackers take advantage of the fact that Google Docs ...
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Leaked Copies of Windows 11 Could Be Tempting Phishbait for Techies

The latest anticipated release of Windows should be a reminder that even IT folks can be driven into a frenzy enough to miss the signs of a malicious campaign.
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Understanding Ransomware’s True Costs

We all know ransomware is pretty bad, but if you are a cybersecurity risk manager trying to justify the latest purchase to mitigate it, nailing down real numbers can be pretty hard. There ...
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Tax Organizations Need to Focus on Cybersecurity

Tax preparation companies and tax agencies are increasingly facing scams, fraud, and other attacks, according to Robert Capps, Vice President of Marketplace Innovation at NuData Security. ...
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EA Got Social Engineered via Slack Channel and Lost 780 GB valued Millions

Hackers gained access to the networks of video game giant Electronic Arts (EA) via social engineering, Motherboard reports. The hackers claim to have stolen 780 GB of data, including the ...
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Insights Into Credential Phishing

Cybercriminals are quick to put hacked accounts to use, according to Agari by Help Systems. The researchers found that 91% of compromised accounts are accessed by attackers within one ...
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78% of CISOs Say Attacks Have Increased as a Result of More Employees Working from Home

According to new data from VMware Carbon Black, the sophistication and impact of modern cyberattacks is causing CISOs to rethink how to secure the expanding attack surface.
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