Security | Threat Detection | Cyberattacks | DevSecOps | Compliance

The threat of phishing attacks looms larger than ever. The LA County Department of Public Health recently announced that 50 employees fell victim to phishing attacks, compromising sensitive patient data. These deceptive schemes have become a staple in the cyberthreat landscape, targeting individuals and businesses of all sizes. For every employee, understanding the signs and consequences of a phishing attack is crucial to safeguarding their organization.

Cybersecurity moves fast, and the latest threats to reach organizations worldwide are being built on the back of artificial intelligence (AI) models that spit out accurate code, realistic messages, and lifelike audio and video designed to fool people. But as headline-grabbing as AI-based attacks appear to be, they aren’t driving the most breaches globally. That would be BEC attacks, in which attackers leverage stolen access to a business email account to create a scam that results in financial gain.

If you had to choose between regular cybersecurity training and simulated phishing testing, the data shows you should choose simulated phishing tests. When the security awareness training (SAT) industry started over a decade ago, there was some controversy about whether simulated phishing tests should be conducted. The idea of simulated phishing testing was relatively new and some people took them as not only unusual, but potentially unethical and unneeded.

Over 11 million phishing attacks have been reported to the UK’s Suspicious Email Reporting Service (SERS) over the past year, according to new data from Action Fraud. The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre has also taken down more than 329,000 phishing sites since the SERS program started in 2020.

Mobile phones have revolutionized the way we work, granting unprecedented freedom and flexibility to access emails and communicate from virtually anywhere. However, this convenience comes with its own set of risks, particularly when it comes to email security. With the rise in remote work and the increasing reliance on mobile devices, employees are now responding to work emails at all hours, often on personal devices.

A new report from Barracuda has found that email conversation hijacking attacks have risen by 70% since 2022. Additionally, business email compromise (BEC) attacks accounted for 10.6% of social engineering attacks in 2023, compared to 8% in 2022 and 9% in 2021. These attacks require more effort on the part of attackers, but they typically have a much higher payout than other forms of social engineering.

Mailcow Mail Server Vulnerabilities Expose Servers to Remote Code Execution Recently, two significant security vulnerabilities have been uncovered in the Mailcow open-source mail server suite. These vulnerabilities, which affect all versions prior to 2024-04, were disclosed by SonarSource on March 22, 2024, and could allow malicious actors to execute arbitrary code on vulnerable Mailcow instances. Understanding the Vulnerabilities.

Phishing is the weapon of choice for many adversaries. And it’s easy to understand why: Users fall victim to attacks in under 60 seconds on average, novice cybercriminals can launch effective phishing campaigns thanks to off-the-shelf phishing kits and generative AI, and above all, it works — 71% of organizations reported at least one successful attack in 2023.

In a recent LevelBlue incident response engagement, an analyst in our managed detection and response (MDR) security operations center (SOC) responded to an alarm that was triggered by a suspicious email/inbox rule. The rule aimed to conceal responses to an internal phishing attempt from the account user, so the attacker could solicit funds from the company's users.

The adage "data is the new oil" doesn't resonate with everyone. Personally, having grown up around cars thanks to my dad, a master mechanic, I see oil as messy and cumbersome. Data, in my view, is more akin to bacon—universally enjoyed and valuable in various forms; everyone wants it and will go to great lengths to have an extra helping, maybe even pushing a sibling's arm out of the way to get the last piece.