LockBit Green and phishing that targets organizations

Introduction In recent months, we published private reports on a broad range of subjects. We wrote about malware targeting Brazil, about CEO fraud attempts, Andariel, LockBit and others. For this post, we selected three private reports, namely those related to LockBit and phishing campaigns...

Adversary-in-the-Middle Attack Campaign Hits Dozens of Global Organizations

"Dozens" of organizations across the world have been targeted as part of a broad business email compromise BEC campaign that involved the use of adversary-in-the-middle AitM techniques to carry out the attacks. "Following a successful phishing attempt, the threat actor gained initial access to on...

Microsoft Uncovers Banking AitM Phishing and BEC Attacks Targeting Financial Giants

Banking and financial services organizations are the targets of a new multi-stage adversary-in-the-middle AitM phishing and business email compromise BEC attack, Microsoft has revealed. "The attack originated from a compromised trusted vendor and transitioned into a series of AiTM attacks and...

Why a proactive detection and incident response plan is crucial for your organization

The security community is continuously changing, growing, and learning from each other to better position the world against cyberthreats. In the latest post of our Community Voices blog series, Microsoft Security Senior Product Marketing Manager Brooke Lynn Weenig talks with Matt Suiche, Director...

Why a proactive detection and incident response plan is crucial for your organization

The security community is continuously changing, growing, and learning from each other to better position the world against cyberthreats. In the latest post of our Community Voices blog series, Microsoft Security Senior Product Marketing Manager Brooke Lynn Weenig talks with Matt Suiche, Director...

Cyber Signals: Shifting tactics fuel surge in business email compromise

Today we released the fourth edition of Cyber Signals highlighting a surge in cybercriminal activity around business email compromise BEC. Microsoft has observed a 38 percent increase in cybercrime as a service CaaS targeting business email between 2019 and 2022.1 Successful BEC attacks cost...

How to protect your small business from social engineering

When Alvin Staffin received an email from his boss, he didn't question it. In the email, Gary Bragg, then-president of Pennsylvania law firm O'Neill, Bragg & Staffin, asked Staffin to wire $580,000 to a Bank of China account. Staffin, who was VP and in charge of banking, sent the money through as...

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 named Best Email Security Service of 2023 by SE Labs

In todays world where hybrid and remote work are on the rise, and companies rely on email now more than ever, phishing remains one of the most prominent and sophisticated techniques that malicious actors utilize to attack organizations and gain access to their most sensitive information...

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 named Best Email Security Service of 2023 by SE Labs

In todays world where hybrid and remote work are on the rise, and companies rely on email now more than ever, phishing remains one of the most prominent and sophisticated techniques that malicious actors utilize to attack organizations and gain access to their most sensitive information...

A week in security (February 6 - 12)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Two year old vulnerability used in ransomware attack against VMware ESXi On the 20th Safer Internet Day, what was security like back in 2004? Florida hospital takes entire IT systems offline after 'ransomware attack' Introducing Malwarebytes Mobile Security for...

$800,000 recovered from Business Email Compromise attack

We continue to see the damaging repercussions of business email compromise BEC impacting organisations across the US and elsewhere. The Houston Chronicle reports that law enforcement seized $800,000 from a bank account used for pillaging funds from a construction management company. The attack BE...

Business Email Compromise attack imitates vendors, targets supply chains

Today we have a fascinating tale of a business email compromise BEC group steering clear of targeting executives, in favour of fouling up supply chains instead. The attack, which may sound overly complicated, is a fairly streamlined attack with the intention of making a lot of money. BEC: What is...

BEC scammers go after more than just money

In a joint Cybersecurity Advisory CSA the Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI, the Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigations FDA OCI, and the US Department of Agriculture USDA recently observed incidents of Business Email Compromise BEC with a new twist. In these incidents th...

FBI, FDA OCI, and USDA Release Joint Cybersecurity Advisory Regarding Business Email Compromise Schemes Used to Steal Food

The Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI, the Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigations FDA OCI, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture USDA have released a joint Cybersecurity Advisory CSA detailing recently observed incidents of criminal actors using business email compromis...

The benefits of taking an intent-based approach to detecting Business Email Compromise

BEC is a multi-stage attack. Adversaries first identify targets, then they establish rapport with the victim before exploiting them for whatever their end goal is. In the case of BEC, a threat actor can impersonate any employee in the organization to trick targets. A policy that checks for...

The benefits of taking an intent-based approach to detecting Business Email Compromise

By Abhishek Singh. BEC is a multi-stage attack. Adversaries first identify targets, then they establish rapport with the victim before exploiting them for whatever their end goal is. In the case of BEC, a threat actor can impersonate any employee in the organization to trick targets. A policy tha...

Romance scammer given 25 years of alone time

Romance scams are often low risk, high reward strategies for ciminals, who use them to steal large sums of money from vulnerable people in the cruellest ways possible. Once the victim wires the cash, theres a good chance that its never coming back. The perpetrator has almost certainly covered the...

BEC Scammer Gets 25-Year Jail Sentence for Stealing Over $9.5 Million

A 46-year-old man in the U.S. has been sentenced to 25 years in prison after being found guilty of laundering over $9.5 million accrued by carrying out cyber-enabled financial fraud. Elvis Eghosa Ogiekpolor of Norcross, Georgia, operated a money laundering network that opened at least 50 business...

How Underground Groups Use Stolen Identities and Deepfakes

The growing appearance of deepfake attacks is significantly reshaping the threat landscape. These fakes brings attacks such as business email compromise BEC and identity verification bypassing to new levels...

Stop Worrying About Passwords Forever

So far 2022 confirms that passwords are not dead yet. Neither will they be anytime soon. Even though Microsoft and Apple are championing passwordless authentication methods, most applications and websites will not remove this option for a very long time. Think about it, internal apps that you do...