Whale Phishing (Whaling)

-

 Whale Phishing (Whaling) 

Why go after little phish when you can phish a whale? In 2020, Australian hedge fund Levitas Capital found that out the hard way when attackers launched a stealthy whaling attack aimed directly at one of the founders. The bad actors gained entry to the hedge fund’s network after sending the executive a fake Zoom link that installed malware once it was clicked. The malicious code allowed the attackers to infiltrate the targeted email account and subsequently create bogus invoices to the fund’s trustee and third-party administrator, which initiated and approved cash transfer requests resulting in $8.7 million in theft. The bogus invoices also included a request for a $1.2 million payment to suspicious private equity firm Unique Star Trading. The losses were so damaging and extensive that the firm was eventually forced to permanently close.

What you need to know: Whaling is when hackers go after one single, high-value target, such as a CEO. The target is always someone specific, whereas a phishing email may go after anyone at a company. The hackers also usually go after high-profile targets because they may possess important or sensitive information

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Compromised Credentials

-
 Compromised Credentials  In 2020, Marriott International suffered a massive data breach as a result of a compromised credentials attack. This breach compromised the accounts of 5.2 million Marriott customers, exposing their contact information, gender, date of birth and loyalty account information. The attacker used the login credentials of two Marriott employees, presumably obtained through a mix of phishing and credential stuffing, to collect Marriott customers’ information for an entire month before raising suspicion. What you need to know: Most people still use single-factor authentication to identify themselves (a pretty big no-no in the cybersecurity space). And while stricter password requirements are starting to be enforced (like character length, a combination of symbols and numbers, and renewal intervals), end users still repeat credentials across accounts, platforms and applications, failing to update them periodically. This type of approach makes it easier for adv...
Read more

SQL Injection

-
 SQL Injection  Structured Query Language, or SQL (sometimes pronounced “sequel”), is the standard programming language used to communicate with relational databases — systems that support every data-driven website and application on the internet. An attacker can take advantage of this (very common) system by entering a specific SQL query into the form (injecting it into the database), at which point the hacker can access the database, network and servers. And SQL injection attacks continue to be a popular attack method. As recently as August of 2020, the Freepik Company disclosed a data breach impacting the logins of more than eight million users resulting from an SQL injection in a global database of customizable icons, which allowed the hackers to access and ultimately steal user login and personal information. What you need to know: SQL injection is a type of injection attack used to manipulate or destroy databases using malicious SQL statements. SQL statements control the...
Read more