The Dangers Lurking When Employees Use Work Email Addresses for Personal Use
Many companies likely have had their email credentials compromised without realizing it. In September 2016, researchers revealed that they found about 5 million unique business email credentials stored in hackers' dump sites and other underground cyber markets. When the researchers crosschecked the compromised email addresses against the domains of the top 1,000 companies in the FORBES Global 2000 list, they found that 97 percent of those organizations had at least one of the
9 Signs That an Email Might Be a Phishing Scam
Phishing attacks are still a weapon of choice for cybercriminals. The most common way they carry out phishing attacks is through email messages. In email phishing scams, digital con-artists use a convincing pretense to lure you into performing an action — usually opening an attachment or clicking a link. Doing so can lead to malware being installed on your computer or your personal information being stolen. One of the best defenses against this type of cyberattack is being ab
Cybercriminals Are Posing as Job Applicants to Spread Ransomware
If your business is hiring, you should be aware of a phishing attack in which cybercriminals are posing as job applicants. Falling victim to this attack may leave your business infected with the GoldenEye ransomware. This phishing campaign was initiated in Germany, but security experts expect it will go global. How the Attack Works Hackers like to target HR staff members because they often open emails and attachments sent by strangers. In the GoldenEye attack, cybercriminals
Warn Your Staff about This Malicious Email
Be on guard — a fake security email is making the rounds. Disguised as an email from Microsoft, this phishing email is deceiving people into infecting their computers with a bot called Neutrino. This bot enables cybercriminals to take control of the infected machines. The hackers then use the machines for various malicious activities, such as stealing credentials and data. The bot runs in the background processes of the computer and has no obvious visual symptoms, so the vict
Cybercriminals Now Using Legitimate PayPal Emails in Scam
PayPal scams are nothing new. What is new is that cybercriminals have started using legitimate PayPal services to perpetrate those cyberattacks. In July 2016, cybercriminals sent legitimate PayPal emails to PayPal members in an effort to scam them out of $100 USD as well as infect their computers with malware. How the Scam Worked To carry out the scam, cybercriminals either created new PayPal accounts or hacked into existing ones. They then took advantage of a PayPal feature
Devious Tricks That Cybercriminals Use to Scam Businesses
Cybercriminals have stolen $3.1 billion from businesses since January 2015 — not with high-tech ransomware or stealthy spyware, but rather with low-tech emails. The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) refers to these attacks as Business Email Compromise (BEC) scams. Since January 2015, more than 22,000 businesses worldwide (including businesses in all 50 U.S. states) have reported falling victim to a BEC scam. There are likely many more businesses that were swindled bu
How to Spot Phishing Attacks
One of the main tools in a hacker's toolbox is the phishing attack. Hackers use these large-scale attacks to steal personal information from as many people as possible. Hackers using phishing are digital con artists. With hidden malware and a convincing pretense, they con people into handing over their personal information. They then use this information for a variety of cyber-crimes. Examples of Phishing Attacks You do not have to look hard to find examples of phishing attac
