Phishing Emails on the Rise as Spear Phishing Continues to Return Bigger Payouts

Jan 7, 2020 8:59:42 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

New data from Microsoft Security Insights sheds some needed light on exactly what the bad guys are doing and how they’re shifting tactics. Sometimes it feels like the bad guys are ...

Penn State Warns of Spear Phishing Attacks

Jan 7, 2020 8:30:37 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

Penn State is warning its community about a recent spike in phishing attacks targeting the university’s employees. Attackers are sending emails posing as real Penn State employees and ...

Announcing A New 8-Minute Training Module - Social Media: Staying Secure in a Connected World

Jan 6, 2020 7:00:00 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

As you probably know, social media is the number one place that attackers can get intel about your organization to make their "hacking of your humans" more effective. We have been hearing ...

U.S. Government Issues Warning About Possible Iranian Cyberattacks

Jan 3, 2020 2:27:46 PM By Stu Sjouwerman

Christopher C. Krebs, Director of Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued a warning about a potential new wave of Iranian cyber-attacks targeting U.S. assets after Maj. ...

Seven Kinds of Malware, and all Arrive by Social Engineering

Jan 3, 2020 9:25:59 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

Naked Security outlines seven different categories of malware and describes how each of them through social engineering techniques can affect your organization. Some or all of these ...

Phishing Remains the Most Widespread Risk

Jan 2, 2020 8:27:21 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

As organizations look to improving their defenses, it’s worth remembering that attackers usually get through those defenses by manipulating the human beings those security measures are in ...

Tax Season Warning: the IRS on Social Engineering

Dec 31, 2019 8:25:18 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

We have had occasion to warn of this before, but as 2020 begins and April 15th approaches, it may be worth another mention. The US Internal Revenue Service wants taxpayers to keep a sharp ...

PayPal Scammers Want More than Just Your PayPal Credentials

Dec 27, 2019 9:30:25 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

Researchers at ESET have come across phishing sites that try to steal PayPal logins along with a wide range of personal and financial information. The scam begins with phishing emails ...

Veterans are High-Payoff Social Engineering Targets for Scammers

Dec 27, 2019 9:05:27 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

Veterans are particularly valuable targets for various types of social engineering attacks, according to Mary K. Talbot at the Providence Journal. Veterans are often respected leaders in ...

Star Wars Rogue One: A Phish Story

Dec 26, 2019 10:16:45 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

We’ve heard that scammers are exploiting the release of the new Star Wars movie by distributing malware disguised as free copies of the film. But what if we turned this on its head and ...

These Aren't the Droids You're Looking For

Dec 26, 2019 9:54:16 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

Researchers at Kaspersky have identified sixty-five malicious files masquerading as online copies of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, TechRepublic reports. The files are spread via ...

Financial Advisor Fined After Falling for BEC Scam

Dec 18, 2019 8:23:32 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) fined and temporarily suspended a financial advisor working for UBS after he was tricked into transferring $511,870 from a client’s ...

Insurance Company On The Hook for 1.7 Million Dollars After Denying BEC Scam Claim

Dec 12, 2019 3:11:49 PM By Stu Sjouwerman

An article in the insurance Journal reports that the 11th Circuit Court in Atlanta agreed with a district court ruling that insurance company "Ironshore" is still on the hook for paying a ...

What's in it for the Social Engineers?

Dec 12, 2019 9:29:33 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

A necessary skill for any successful hacker is an understanding of how the human mind works, according to a post in IT Pro. Knowing how to manipulate technology is a major part of the ...

Social Engineering via Elder Scrolls

Dec 10, 2019 9:30:12 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

Scammers are going after Elder Scrolls Online accounts by posing as the game’s developers and informing players that their accounts will be banned unless they hand over their credentials, ...

Have Your Users Been Exposed in the 8.5 Billion Breached Records This Year?

Dec 10, 2019 9:00:00 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

Data breaches are getting bigger, the bad guys are getting more cunning, and the amount of compromised data is unfortunately continuing to rise. According to RiskBased Security, breach ...

Police warn of new 'line-trapping technology' being used to scam people over the phone

Dec 7, 2019 8:40:03 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

TORONTO -- A new piece of sophisticated technology is being used by fraudsters to scam unsuspecting people over the phone. Police said a woman in York Region received a call earlier this ...

Gift Card Scams are Decreasing in Light of Other Business Email Compromise Scams

Dec 4, 2019 6:48:49 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

New data from email security vendor Agari shows Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks shifting tactics last quarter, in favor of scams resulting in larger payouts.

Identity Deception-Based Phishing Attacks Show an Increase in Impersonating Individuals

Dec 4, 2019 6:45:59 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

The use of impersonating a person or brand as part of an attack in on the rise, giving attackers the upper hand, establishing instant credibility and lowering the defenses of the ...

Phishing for Gamers Uses A Fake Skin Giveaway

Dec 4, 2019 6:42:02 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

BleepingComputer warns that a fake Steam skin giveaway site is stealing users’ Steam credentials. The site appears to be running a 26-day promotion giving away free skins for ...

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