Security | Threat Detection | Cyberattacks | DevSecOps | Compliance

Social engineering by phone is not new. What has changed is how convincing the caller can sound. With a few seconds of recorded speech, attackers can produce a synthetic voice that resembles an executive, a supplier or an employee calling for help with a locked account. Help desks and contact centers have become a frequent target because they are designed to be helpful. Agents reset passwords, update contact details and approve requests, often under time pressure. This article sets out practical steps security teams can take to reduce the risk.

This year's Cyber Security Awareness Month is encouraging us to "Make Life Difficult for Cyber Criminals" and I think this is a really useful way of looking at security awareness. We cannot stop criminals from targeting our organisations and we cannot expect every employee to recognise every attempt. What we can do is reduce the opportunities available to an attacker and make sure that one mistake, one compromised account or one weakness is not enough to get them where they want to go.