The Canada-based Women CyberSecurity Society (WCS2) has warned that its leadership, members, and volunteers are being targeted by an SMS phishing (smishing) campaign, IT World Canada reports. “A volunteer recently reported receiving a text message claiming to be from founder Lisa Kearney citing an urgent need for help,” WCS2 says.

It’s no longer theoretical; phishing attacks and email scams are leveraging AI-generated content based on testing with anti-AI content solutions. I’ve been telling you since the advent of ChatGPT’s public availability that we’d see AI’s misuse to craft compelling and business-level email content.

We are excited to announce that KnowBe4 has been named a leader in the Winter 2024 G2 Grid Report for Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR) for the PhishER platform for the eleventh consecutive quarter! The latest G2 Grid Report compares Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR) Software vendors based on user reviews, customer satisfaction, popularity and market presence.

The latest consumer alert posted by the federal trade commission (FTC) signals that the upticks in QR code-based scams are being seen by cybersecurity vendors are indeed a valid growing problem. You won’t need to go very far before you find a QR code. Restaurants commonly use QR codes to point you to a menu, parking lots use them to point you to a website to pay for parking, and according to the FTC, scammers use them to engage you in scams.

Microsoft was the most impersonated brand last quarter, accounting for a third (33%) of all brand phishing attempts in October, November, and December 2023, according to Check Point’s Brand Phishing Report for Q4 2023. Check Point notes, “The technology sector stood out as the most targeted industry overall, with Amazon securing second place with 9% and Google in third at 8%.

Trained security awareness professionals are aware that whatever someone says about themselves and personal experiences can be used against them in a social engineering scam. It is always good to share that message, at least once a year with co-workers, family members, and friends. I was reminded of this latest news story discussing a recent Instagram and TikTok trend. Basically, users are sent (or send) a “survey” that asks the receiver to describe themselves.

We are thrilled to announce that KnowBe4 has been named a leader in the latest G2 Grid Report that compares security awareness training (SAT) vendors based on user reviews, customer satisfaction, popularity and market presence. Based on 1,455 G2 customer reviews, KnowBe4’s KMSAT is the top ranked SAT platform with 98% of users rating 4 or 5 stars. The KMSAT platform received the highest G2 score among products in the SAT category with a score of 93 out of 100.

Verizon has published an article outlining various forms of social engineering attacks, including SMS/text messaging phishing (smishing), voice phishing (vishing), and spear phishing (targeted attacks, often via email). Verizon warns users to be on the lookout for the following red flags: Verizon concludes, “Remember, phishing is common and perpetrators are hoping to catch you with your guard down. But most companies will never proactively reach out to you.

Millions of data records and GBs of data from organizations around the globe were made freely available to cybercriminals to coincide with dates around Christmas of 2023. The pressure presented by cybercriminals threatening to publish data on the web is very compelling. After all, what company wants to be responsible for millions of everyday people potentially becoming victims of scams and cyber attacks? That’s right, not a single one.

For the first time ever, the U.S. Justice Department announced the existence of an FBI-developed decryption tool that has been used to save hundreds of victim organizations attacked by one of the most prolific ransomware variants in the world. In an announcement made last month, the Justice Department made the world aware of the existence of a decryption tool to be used by those organizations hit by Blackcat – also known as ALPHV or Noberus.