Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks Attack.Phishing jumped 45 % in the final quarter of 2016 , compared to the previous three months , according to new stats from Proofpoint . The security vendor claimed such attacks have grown both in volume and sophistication . Also known as “ CEO fraud ” and “ whaling ” , these attacks Attack.Phishing typically involve fraudsters spoofing Attack.Phishing the email addresses of company CEOs to trick Attack.Phishing staff members into transferring funds outside the company . However , Proofpoint also includes attempts to target HR teams for confidential tax information and sensitive employee data , as well as engineering departments which may have access to a wealth of lucrative corporate IP . In its analysis of over 5000 global enterprise customers , it claimed that in two-thirds of cases the attacker spoofed Attack.Phishing the “ from ” email domain to display the same as that of the targeted company . These attacks Attack.Phishing can thwart some systems , because they don ’ t feature malware as such – just a combination of this domain spoofing Attack.Phishing and social engineering of the victim to force them to pay up . Part of the trick is to harry the target , rushing them so they have less time to think about what they ’ re doing . That ’ s why over 70 % of the most common BEC Attack.Phishing subject line families appraised by Proofpoint featured the words “ Urgent ” , “ Payment ” and “ Request ” . The vendor claimed that firms in the manufacturing , retail and technology sectors are especially at risk , as cyber-criminals repeatedly look to take advantage of more complex supply chains and SaaS infrastructures . Vice-president of products , Robert Holmes , argued that although employee education was important , it needs to be complemented by the right set of tools to weed out fraudulent emails . “ When it comes to BEC attacks Attack.Phishing , employees should never be an organization ’ s first line of defense . It is the organization ’ s responsibility to ensure that security technologies are in place , so that BEC attacks are stopped before they can reach their intended target , ” he told Infosecurity Magazine . BEC Attack.Phishing has become so popular among the black hats that the FBI warned organizations last year the scams had cost billions since 2013 . Trend Micro predicted that 2017 would see more and more cyber-criminals turn to BEC Attack.Phishing given the potential rich pickings – claiming the average pay-out is $ 140,000 , versus just $ 722 for a typical ransomware attack Attack.Ransom . However , Holmes argued that ransomware and BEC actors are likely “ two distinct types of criminal ” . “ While ransomware attacks Attack.Ransom require technical infrastructure to launch campaigns at scale , BEC attacks Attack.Phishing are socially engineered and highly targeted in nature , conducted by a single actor rather than teams , and generally launched from shared email platforms , ” he explained . “ While cyber-criminals will always go where the money is , we do not envision a drastic change in tactics such as traditional purveyors of ransomware transitioning to BEC Attack.Phishing . As long as ransomware and trojans continue to pay , cyber-criminals with technical skillsets are unlikely to down tools and pivot towards such a fundamentally different type of attack vector . ”

Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks Attack.Phishing jumped 45 % in the final quarter of 2016 , compared to the previous three months , according to new stats from Proofpoint . The security vendor claimed such attacks have grown both in volume and sophistication . Also known as “ CEO fraud ” and “ whaling ” , these attacks Attack.Phishing typically involve fraudsters spoofing Attack.Phishing the email addresses of company CEOs to trick Attack.Phishing staff members into transferring funds outside the company . However , Proofpoint also includes attempts to target HR teams for confidential tax information and sensitive employee data , as well as engineering departments which may have access to a wealth of lucrative corporate IP . In its analysis of over 5000 global enterprise customers , it claimed that in two-thirds of cases the attacker spoofed Attack.Phishing the “ from ” email domain to display the same as that of the targeted company . These attacks Attack.Phishing can thwart some systems , because they don ’ t feature malware as such – just a combination of this domain spoofing Attack.Phishing and social engineering of the victim to force them to pay up . Part of the trick is to harry the target , rushing them so they have less time to think about what they ’ re doing . That ’ s why over 70 % of the most common BEC Attack.Phishing subject line families appraised by Proofpoint featured the words “ Urgent ” , “ Payment ” and “ Request ” . The vendor claimed that firms in the manufacturing , retail and technology sectors are especially at risk , as cyber-criminals repeatedly look to take advantage of more complex supply chains and SaaS infrastructures . Vice-president of products , Robert Holmes , argued that although employee education was important , it needs to be complemented by the right set of tools to weed out fraudulent emails . “ When it comes to BEC attacks Attack.Phishing , employees should never be an organization ’ s first line of defense . It is the organization ’ s responsibility to ensure that security technologies are in place , so that BEC attacks are stopped before they can reach their intended target , ” he told Infosecurity Magazine . BEC Attack.Phishing has become so popular among the black hats that the FBI warned organizations last year the scams had cost billions since 2013 . Trend Micro predicted that 2017 would see more and more cyber-criminals turn to BEC Attack.Phishing given the potential rich pickings – claiming the average pay-out is $ 140,000 , versus just $ 722 for a typical ransomware attack Attack.Ransom . However , Holmes argued that ransomware and BEC actors are likely “ two distinct types of criminal ” . “ While ransomware attacks Attack.Ransom require technical infrastructure to launch campaigns at scale , BEC attacks Attack.Phishing are socially engineered and highly targeted in nature , conducted by a single actor rather than teams , and generally launched from shared email platforms , ” he explained . “ While cyber-criminals will always go where the money is , we do not envision a drastic change in tactics such as traditional purveyors of ransomware transitioning to BEC Attack.Phishing . As long as ransomware and trojans continue to pay , cyber-criminals with technical skillsets are unlikely to down tools and pivot towards such a fundamentally different type of attack vector . ”

Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks Attack.Phishing jumped 45 % in the final quarter of 2016 , compared to the previous three months , according to new stats from Proofpoint . The security vendor claimed such attacks have grown both in volume and sophistication . Also known as “ CEO fraud ” and “ whaling ” , these attacks Attack.Phishing typically involve fraudsters spoofing Attack.Phishing the email addresses of company CEOs to trick Attack.Phishing staff members into transferring funds outside the company . However , Proofpoint also includes attempts to target HR teams for confidential tax information and sensitive employee data , as well as engineering departments which may have access to a wealth of lucrative corporate IP . In its analysis of over 5000 global enterprise customers , it claimed that in two-thirds of cases the attacker spoofed Attack.Phishing the “ from ” email domain to display the same as that of the targeted company . These attacks Attack.Phishing can thwart some systems , because they don ’ t feature malware as such – just a combination of this domain spoofing Attack.Phishing and social engineering of the victim to force them to pay up . Part of the trick is to harry the target , rushing them so they have less time to think about what they ’ re doing . That ’ s why over 70 % of the most common BEC Attack.Phishing subject line families appraised by Proofpoint featured the words “ Urgent ” , “ Payment ” and “ Request ” . The vendor claimed that firms in the manufacturing , retail and technology sectors are especially at risk , as cyber-criminals repeatedly look to take advantage of more complex supply chains and SaaS infrastructures . Vice-president of products , Robert Holmes , argued that although employee education was important , it needs to be complemented by the right set of tools to weed out fraudulent emails . “ When it comes to BEC attacks Attack.Phishing , employees should never be an organization ’ s first line of defense . It is the organization ’ s responsibility to ensure that security technologies are in place , so that BEC attacks are stopped before they can reach their intended target , ” he told Infosecurity Magazine . BEC Attack.Phishing has become so popular among the black hats that the FBI warned organizations last year the scams had cost billions since 2013 . Trend Micro predicted that 2017 would see more and more cyber-criminals turn to BEC Attack.Phishing given the potential rich pickings – claiming the average pay-out is $ 140,000 , versus just $ 722 for a typical ransomware attack Attack.Ransom . However , Holmes argued that ransomware and BEC actors are likely “ two distinct types of criminal ” . “ While ransomware attacks Attack.Ransom require technical infrastructure to launch campaigns at scale , BEC attacks Attack.Phishing are socially engineered and highly targeted in nature , conducted by a single actor rather than teams , and generally launched from shared email platforms , ” he explained . “ While cyber-criminals will always go where the money is , we do not envision a drastic change in tactics such as traditional purveyors of ransomware transitioning to BEC Attack.Phishing . As long as ransomware and trojans continue to pay , cyber-criminals with technical skillsets are unlikely to down tools and pivot towards such a fundamentally different type of attack vector . ”

Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks Attack.Phishing jumped 45 % in the final quarter of 2016 , compared to the previous three months , according to new stats from Proofpoint . The security vendor claimed such attacks have grown both in volume and sophistication . Also known as “ CEO fraud ” and “ whaling ” , these attacks Attack.Phishing typically involve fraudsters spoofing Attack.Phishing the email addresses of company CEOs to trick Attack.Phishing staff members into transferring funds outside the company . However , Proofpoint also includes attempts to target HR teams for confidential tax information and sensitive employee data , as well as engineering departments which may have access to a wealth of lucrative corporate IP . In its analysis of over 5000 global enterprise customers , it claimed that in two-thirds of cases the attacker spoofed Attack.Phishing the “ from ” email domain to display the same as that of the targeted company . These attacks Attack.Phishing can thwart some systems , because they don ’ t feature malware as such – just a combination of this domain spoofing Attack.Phishing and social engineering of the victim to force them to pay up . Part of the trick is to harry the target , rushing them so they have less time to think about what they ’ re doing . That ’ s why over 70 % of the most common BEC Attack.Phishing subject line families appraised by Proofpoint featured the words “ Urgent ” , “ Payment ” and “ Request ” . The vendor claimed that firms in the manufacturing , retail and technology sectors are especially at risk , as cyber-criminals repeatedly look to take advantage of more complex supply chains and SaaS infrastructures . Vice-president of products , Robert Holmes , argued that although employee education was important , it needs to be complemented by the right set of tools to weed out fraudulent emails . “ When it comes to BEC attacks Attack.Phishing , employees should never be an organization ’ s first line of defense . It is the organization ’ s responsibility to ensure that security technologies are in place , so that BEC attacks are stopped before they can reach their intended target , ” he told Infosecurity Magazine . BEC Attack.Phishing has become so popular among the black hats that the FBI warned organizations last year the scams had cost billions since 2013 . Trend Micro predicted that 2017 would see more and more cyber-criminals turn to BEC Attack.Phishing given the potential rich pickings – claiming the average pay-out is $ 140,000 , versus just $ 722 for a typical ransomware attack Attack.Ransom . However , Holmes argued that ransomware and BEC actors are likely “ two distinct types of criminal ” . “ While ransomware attacks Attack.Ransom require technical infrastructure to launch campaigns at scale , BEC attacks Attack.Phishing are socially engineered and highly targeted in nature , conducted by a single actor rather than teams , and generally launched from shared email platforms , ” he explained . “ While cyber-criminals will always go where the money is , we do not envision a drastic change in tactics such as traditional purveyors of ransomware transitioning to BEC Attack.Phishing . As long as ransomware and trojans continue to pay , cyber-criminals with technical skillsets are unlikely to down tools and pivot towards such a fundamentally different type of attack vector . ”