The cybercrime environment is evolving as cyber threat actors improve their attack planning, build new malware and sneaky methods to take advantage of both business and consumer’s on-line behavior. Cybercrimes via social media are not new but now have catapulted into a severe problem with the CoronaVirus. Mobile users are more at risk to criminal schemes as popular on-line banking, and merchant services are available as mobile applications.
Besides social engineering techniques, cybercriminals are attacking all vulnerabilities that have been made available to them through the Internet of Things (IoT). Mobile devices are also easier to hack than computers. The constant use of social media applications has made these opportunities even more attractive to cyber threat actors. Bad actors are shielded by anonymity and provided with ways to uncover and collect information that will catch users off-guard and make open to attacks.
The best way to mitigate cybersecurity risks is to be aware of how social media will be used for future attacks. The first step is usually a phishing attempt. A casual social media connection (with a nefarious hacker) can lead to a user falling for these low-level cyberattacks. Beginning with a phishing attempt that can lead to social engineering, there are many ways a cyber crook can exploit daily business or personal activities to use these identified employees as the access point(s) for targeted attacks on businesses and organizations.
These attacks can be the start of malware infections, credential theft, and methods to gain physical access to buildings. Social engineering is a widely used strategy. Many people will often accept “friend requests” from unknown persons on social media from individuals they do not know. “Friending” or “following” appears innocent enough, such as the person accepting the “Friend” request. Cyber actors do not have to impersonate a real person to access posted information as intelligence that is used against the target individual.
Cyber actors use many techniques to mask their actual purposes. In addition to creating pretend people, they have also impersonated real individuals who do not use or rarely use social media. This is a great method to contact co-workers, mutual friends, and associates from the targeted company or organization. Often, it is not only humans that provide clues to attacking a target. Unsecure CCTV feeds access control systems that are still using factory-default passwords and company newsletters, publications, or announcements that could provide damaging personal or business information. Suppliers and supply chains are frequent soft targets for entry into larger companies.
A problem facing all businesses, organizations, and government entities are how to create a security culture without imposing draconian rules and regulations. There are so many potential entry points into all organizations via social media and social engineering. Security awareness must apply to all departments and their staff. Any employee, in nearly any position, can be exploited as a weak link to the safeguarding the entire organizations. Mandatory employee cyber threat training should be structured, updated, and ongoing. The training sessions should include situations and examples of how simple inquiries can lead to future attacks. In addition to training and company-sponsored phishing testing, multi-factor authentication, password managers, and software up-dating and patching must be mandated.
Disaster recovery and emergency planning procedures and manuals should include cybersecurity and cyber breach procedures. Cybersecurity awareness is only the beginning. Cyber risk assessments and audits should be implemented too. Organizations must plan - that they will be attacked sometime in the future.
Red Sky Alliance has been analyzing and documenting cyber threats for eight years and maintains a resource library of malware and cyber actor reports. We can assist in the installation, updating, and monitoring of firewalls, cybersecurity and provide employee training, which are keys to blocking cyber-attacks. Please feel free to contact our analyst team for research assistance and check out our CTAC and RedXray Threat Analysis tools.
What can you do to better protect your organization today?
- All data in transmission and at rest should be encrypted.
- Proper data back-up and off-site storage policies should be adopted and followed.
- Update disaster recovery plans and emergency procedures with cyber threat recovery procedures.
- Institute cyber threat and phishing training for all employees, with testing and updating.
- Recommend/require cybersecurity software, services, and devices to be used by all at home working employees and consultants.
- Review and update your cyber threat and information security policies and procedures. Make them a part of all emergency planning and training.
- Ensure that all software updates and patches are installed immediately.
- Enroll your company/organization in RedXray for daily cyber threat notifications are directed at your domains. RedXray service is $500 a month and provides threat intelligence on nine (9) cyber threat categories, including Keyloggers, with having to connect to your network.
- Purchase annual cyber insurance coverage from Red Sky Alliance provided by Cysurance.
Conclusion
Red Sky Alliance strongly recommends ongoing monitoring from both internal and external perspectives. Internal monitoring is standard practice. However, external threats are often overlooked and can represent an early warning of impending attacks. Red Sky Alliance can provide both internal monitoring in tandem with RedXray notifications on external threats to include, botnet activity, public data breaches, phishing, fraud, and general targeting.
Red Sky Alliance is located in New Boston, NH USA. We are a Cyber Threat Analysis and Intelligence Service organization. For questions, comments or assistance, please contact the lab directly at 1-844-492-7225, or feedback@wapacklabs.com
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