Email Phishing Scam Steals Snapchat Employees Data

Security, ,
19
Apr 2016

SNapchat620px

Phishing scams are well known within technology circles, but this doesn’t mean those in the tech industry are immune as Snapchat discovered in February.

Snapchat, for those of you who are not aware, is a social media app which allows users to send each other photos and videos with a limited viewing time. Once that time is up then the media disappears forever. It’s proved to be phenomenally successful and the company is estimated to be worth $20 billion.

However, even with the funds available to invest in state of the art cyber security, they still found themselves falling foul of a good old fashioned phishing scam. We are going to show you what happened in order to equip you with the knowledge needed to avoid a similar occurrence.

How Was Snapchat Hacked?

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The hack at Snapchat used a relatively simple phishing scam to gain access to sensitive employee data. The payroll department at Snapchat received an email which claimed to be from the company’s CEO requesting payroll information on employees. Unfortunately for the payroll department, this email was not genuine. It was a scam.

Not realizing the fraudulent nature of the email, an employee duly forwarded the required information to the hacker. The nature of the data disclosed has not been confirmed by Snapchat, but it’s suspected that it would include the following:

  • Bank details
  • Social security numbers
  • Salary information
  • Personal ID and addresses

Why Do People Still Fall for Phishing Scams?

Computer-Hacker

It may seem strange that such a master of modern technology can fall victim to such a simple phishing scam, but it’s by no means unthinkable. These scams have evolved over time to become more sophisticated and it’s often their simplicity which makes them so deceptive.

In the case of the email sent to Snapchat purporting to be from their CEO, it’s more than likely that it genuinely appeared to have been sent by the CEO. With even the most basic software, it’s possible to fake outgoing email addresses and, if I wanted, it wouldn’t be difficult for me to send an email apparently from bill.gates@microsoft.com

And although this particular Snapchat employee was left thinking “I should have known better”, they most likely thought they were being a helpful employee and were keen to impress their CEO. However, it’s this type of tempting payoff which makes phishing scams so hard to resist.

The Aftermath of the Scam

To Snapchat’s credit, they responded fairly quickly and within four hours they had managed to confirm this was an isolated attack. A report was filed with the FBI and employees affected by the scam were offered two years’ worth of identity theft insurance and monitoring. More importantly, Snapchat underlined their determination to increase the intensity of their security training within the next few weeks.

Snapchat’s case highlights just how vulnerable even multibillion dollar corporations can be when confronted with even the simplest hacks. The importance of good quality security training which focuses on even the most intricate details of phishing scams is paramount to ensure yours and your customer’s data.

For more ways to secure and optimize your business technology, contact your local IT professionals.

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How to spot phishing emails and avoid malware infections

Security, ,
14
Jul 2015

Phishing

Do you know how to spot a phishing email? Phishing emails are not only a nuisance, but can also lead to theft. Our guide will show you how to spot them.

The term “phishing” is likened to the word fishing, which sounds almost the same and is used with the same notion to reel in some information such as a username/password or to hook you into taking some action via an unsolicited email. The aim of a phishing email is to “phish” a user by having them fall for the bait without initially realizing it.

Convincing phishing emails work well for the originator without raising too much suspicion to the end user.  So how does one avoid this? First, let’s understand the damage a phishing email can generate before we delve into how to spot one.

What harm can phishing emails cause?

There are two major risks that can result from opening up links or attachments from phishing emails.

  1. Many email authors aim to trick users into believing that they’ve been contacted by a legitimate company that may prompt them to visit a link which can lead to a fake website. This site may be a copy-cat site of a legitimate one, for instance a banking site, complete with a login screen. The spoof site then captures and records login credentials which can be used again by the originator of the dummy site.
  2. The email itself may pretend to pose as the legitimate company, such as a bank, prompting their targets to take action through their link. Usual email wording triggers the user to prompt some action such as “your account is suspended”, “update your information”, or even that an account has had “unauthorized access”. Anything which triggers panic or confusion is enough to get a user to follow through the phishing email’s instruction.

Such scams can lead users to give away their credentials, passwords, and private information, which can be used to steal their identity and money.

Many phishing emails also attempt to infect systems with malware. This is a common entry point for a large majority of infections at companies leading to infecting one’s computer system and network with nasty malware. The worst case scenario includes the malware holding a user’s data hostage in exchange for a ransom.

How to spot phishing scams

Below are usual signs of phishing email to watch out for.

  • Unrecognized sender. This is usually a big giveaway. If you don’t recognize the sender, treat it with suspicion. Even if the recipient appears with the same domain, always question this as clever phishing attacks can use the same company domain to trick users.
  • Unexpected emails. Unless you’re expecting an email from a company i.e. a delivery shipment notification, or a lottery win, treat this with suspicion. If unsure about a delivery shipment, contact the official company – acquiring their contact details through their official website.
  • Prompts to open up attachments. Avoid clicking any links or opening attachments.
  • Odd looking website addresses. Another clue to phishing emails are links in the email having suspicious website addresses, which can redirect you to a dodgy website.
  • Odd looking or out of place emails. If you’re able to look at the sender’s details, see what email address it displays. Most of the time their email domains will not match the company they claim to be from. For instance, an email claiming to be from your bank could have @yahoo.com domain. This is an obvious giveaway!
  • Impersonating institutions and companies. As mentioned earlier, be suspicious of so-called emails posing to be Banks, the IRS, Social Security Office and so forth. They rarely contact users through email. If in doubt, contact them directly and not through any telephone numbers given in the message.
  • Poorly written English and grammar. Many phishing emails contain poorly structured sentences and grammatical mistakes which sound like they’ve been written by a ten year old or a non-native English speaker.

Anatomy of Phishing-1

If ever you’re in doubt, don’t hesitate to notify your IT administrator who can help to block as many phishing emails as possible. Even if some manage to filter through, which does happen, put this guide into practice.

For more ways to secure your business systems and networks, contact your local IT professionals.

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