Phishing & Email Spam

Remcos RAT Now Distributed in Spam Email Using VHD Attachments

by Jennifer Marsh | Apr 24, 2024 | Phishing & Email Spam |

Cybercriminals are constantly evolving their tactics for delivering malware and one of the most recent changes concerns the Remcos RAT.  Remcos was developed by Breaking Security as a legitimate remote administration tool that can be used for network maintenance, system monitoring, surveillance, and penetration testing; however, the tool has been weaponized to create the Remcos Remote Access Trojan (RAT).

The Remocos RAT has extensive capabilities and has been used by cybercriminals since 2016. The malware allows threat actors to take control of systems and maintain persistent, highly privileged remote access. The malware can be used for a range of purposes, with threat actors commonly using it for credential theft, man-in-the-middle internet connections, and to create botnets of infected devices that can be used for distributed denial of service attacks (DDoS).

The Remcos RAT is distributed in spam email campaigns. Since 2016, the most common method for distributing the malware used spam emails with malicious Office attachments. Social engineering techniques were used to trick users into opening the files and enabling macros; however, campaigns have recently been detected that deliver the malware via weaponized virtual hard disk (VHD) files.

Security awareness training often focuses on teaching users to be careful when opening Office files and other file types commonly associated with malware distribution. The change to a more unusual file type could result in the file being opened, and VHD files are less likely to be identified as malicious by email security solutions.

An analysis of the extracted VHD files revealed a shortcut file that contained a PowerShell command line that executed a malicious script that ultimately delivered the Remcos RAT via a sophisticated multi-stage delivery method designed to evade security solutions. Once installed, the malware can log keystrokes, take screenshots, and exfiltrate data to its command-and-control server. The malware also has mass-mailer capabilities and can send copies of itself via email from an infected device. According to Check Point, the Remcos RAT rose to the 4^th most prevalent malware threat in March 2024.

The constantly changing tactics for distributing malware mean network defenders need cybersecurity solutions that can adapt and detect zero-day threats. SpamTitan is an advanced email filtering service with AI and machine learning-driven threat detection which is capable of identifying and blocking novel phishing and malware distribution methods. The machine learning algorithm uses predictive technology to identify previously unseen attacks, emails are scanned using twin antivirus engines, and suspicious file types are sent to a next-generation sandbox for behavioral analysis, ensuring even previously unseen malware variants can be identified and blocked.

SpamTitan scans all inbound emails and also includes an outbound email filter to identify malicious emails that are sent from compromised email accounts and by malicious insiders. SpamTitan also has data loss protection capabilities, allowing IT teams to detect and block internal data loss. If your corporate email filter does not include advanced threat protection including AI-driven detection and sandboxing, or if you rely on Microsoft’s anti-spam and anti-phishing protection, sophisticated threats such as zero-day attacks are unlikely to be blocked and your business will be at risk.

Give the TitanHQ team a call today to find out more about SpamTitan. SpamTitan is delivered as a cloud-based anti-spam service that integrates seamlessly with Microsoft 365 to improve protection, or as a gateway solution for on-premises protection, which can be installed on existing hardware as a virtual anti-spam appliance.

Large-scale StrelaStealer Malware Campaign Spreads to US and Europe

by Jennifer Marsh | Mar 28, 2024 | Phishing & Email Spam |

A phishing campaign distributing StrelaStealer malware has expanded to Europe and the United States, with the attackers favoring the high-tech, finance, professional and legal services, manufacturing, government, energy, utilities, insurance, and construction sectors.

StrelaStealer malware was first identified in November 2022 and its primary purpose is to extract email account login credentials from popular email clients such as Microsoft Outlook and Mozilla Thunderbird, and exfiltrate them to its command-and-control server. StrelaStealer has previously been used to target companies in Spanish-speaking countries however, targeting has now been expanded to the United States and Europe, with attacks peaking in November 2023 and January 2023 with more than 500 attacks a day on companies in the United States and more than 100 attacks per day in Europe, according to tracking data from Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 team.

The campaign uses email as the initial access vector with the emails typically claiming to be an invoice. Early attacks used ISO file attachments that included a .lnk shortcut and an HTML file, which invoked the rundll32.exe process to execute the malware payload. The latest attacks use a different method, with .zip file attachments favored. These compressed files include Jscript files which, if executed, drop a batch file and base64-encoded file that decodes into a DLL file, which is executed using rundll32.exe to deploy the StrelaStealer payload.

Email sandboxing provides a vital layer of protection against malware, which can be difficult to detect using transitional signature-based email security solutions. Anti-virus solutions are generally signature-based, which means they can only detect known malware. Advanced email security solutions use sandboxing to analyze the behavior of files to identify and block novel malware threats. Suspicious files are sent to the sandbox for in-depth behavioral analysis. The control flow obfuscation technique used in this attack can make analysis difficult, even in sandboxed environments, with excessively long code blocks used that can result in timeouts when executed in some sandboxed environments. While sandboxing can delay email delivery, which is far from ideal for businesses that need to act on emails quickly, it is important to provide enough time to allow attachments to be fully analyzed, as StrelaStealer malware clearly demonstrates. The easiest way for businesses to sandbox email attachments is with SpamTitan Email Security.

StrelaStealer malware is actively evolving, and new methods are being developed to deliver the malware and evade security solutions. Combatting sophisticated phishing attacks such as this, requires a defense-in-depth approach to security, using multiple security solutions that provide overlapping layers of protection such as SpamTitan Email Security, PhishTitan phishing protection, and SafeTitan security awareness training. Give the TitanHQ team a call today for more information on affordable cybersecurity solutions that are easy to use and capable of blocking advanced phishing threats.

Tycoon 2FA Phishing Kit Targets M365 and Gmail Credentials and Bypasses MFA

by Jennifer Marsh | Mar 27, 2024 | Phishing & Email Spam |

Phishing is one of the most common methods used to gain access to credentials; however, businesses are increasingly implementing multi-factor authentication (MFA) which adds an extra layer of protection and means stolen credentials cannot be used on their own to gain access to accounts. An additional authentication factor is required before access to the account is granted. While any form of MFA is better than none, MFA does not protect against all phishing attacks. There are several popular phishing-as-a-service (PhaaS) platforms that can steal credentials and bypass MFA including LabHost, Greatness, and Robin Banks. For a relatively small fee, any cybercriminal looking to compromise accounts can use the PhaaS platform and gain access to MFA-protected accounts.

A relatively new PhaaS platform has been growing in popularity since its discovery in October 2023 which has been causing concern in the cybersecurity community. Dubbed Tycoon 2FA, the PhaaS platform is being offered through private Telegram groups. Like many other PhaaS platforms, Tycoon 2FA uses adversary-in-the-middle (AiTM) tactics to steal MFA tokens, allowing access to be gained to accounts. The phishing kit uses at least 1,100 domains and has been used in thousands of phishing attacks.

Like most phishing attacks, initial contact is made with end users via email. The messages include a malicious link or a QR code. QR codes are popular with phishers as they communicate a URL to the end user and are difficult for email security solutions to identify as malicious. To ensure that the malicious URLs are not detected by security solutions, after clicking the link or visiting the website via the QR code, the user must pass a security challenge (Cloudflare Turnstile). The web page to which the user is directed targets Microsoft 365 or Gmail credentials. The user’s email address is captured and used to prefill the login page, and when the user enters their password it is captured and they are directed to a fake MFA page.

The phishing kit uses a reverse proxy server that relays the user’s credentials to the legitimate service being targeted in real-time and similarly captures the session cookie when the MFA challenge is passed. The user is unlikely to recognize that their account has been compromised as they are redirected to a legitimate-looking page when the MFA mechanism is passed. According to the researchers, many different threat actors have been using the kit for their phishing campaigns, with the Tycoon 2FA operators having received almost $395,000 in payments to their Bitcoin wallet as of March 2024. The price of the phishing kit is $120 for 10 days of usage which shows how popular the platform is with cybercriminals.

PhaaS platforms allow cybercriminals to conduct sophisticated attacks and bypass MFA without having to invest time and money setting up their own infrastructure they significantly lower the entry barrier for conducting MFA-bypassing phishing attacks. An advanced spam filtering service such as SpamTitan Plus will help to prevent malicious emails from reaching inboxes, and is an ideal spam filter for MSPs looking to provide the best level of protection for their clients. The SpamTitan suite of email security solutions combines phishing, spam, and antivirus filtering and independent tests show a spam block rate of 99.983% and a malware block rate of 99.51%.

PhishTitan from TitanHQ greatly improves protection against more advanced phishing campaigns such as those that use QR codes. Employees should be provided with regular security awareness training to help them identify and avoid phishing messages, and businesses should consider using phishing-resistant MFA rather than more basic forms of 2-factor authentication that use SMS or one-time passwords, which phishing kits such as Tycoon 2FA can easily bypass.

U.S. Government Entities Impersonated in Business Email Compromise Attacks

by Jennifer Marsh | Mar 27, 2024 | Phishing & Email Spam |

Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks may not be as frequently encountered as phishing attacks but the losses to this type of attack are far greater. According to figures from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), $2.9 billion was lost last year to BEC attacks – The second most expensive type of cybercrime.

BEC attacks usually involve impersonation, with the attacker posing as a trusted individual. Contact is established and the scammer tricks the victim into divulging sensitive company information or transferring a large sum of money. For instance, the scammer may pose as a contractor and request that bank details are changed for an upcoming payment. The scam is not usually detected until after the transfer has been made and the funds have been withdrawn from the attacker-controlled account.

BEC attacks can be difficult for email security solutions to identify, as the emails are often sent from a known and trusted email account that has been compromised in a phishing attack. BEC scammers research their targets and may have access to past conversations between the victim and the person they are impersonating and can therefore disclose information from past conversations in email exchanges to convince the target that they are who they claim they are. The scams may also be spread across multiple emails, with trust building during the exchanges.

One of the latest BEC campaigns to be identified involves the impersonation of U.S. government entities, such as the U.S. Department of Transportation, Department of Agriculture, and Small Business Association. Initial contact is made via email and a PDF attachment is sent that includes a QR code, which has links about fake bidding processes. The targeted individual is told to use the QR code to find out more information about the bidding process.

The PDF file explains that the QR code is included as complaints have been received that the bid button in the email does not work with some browsers and that the QR code will direct them to a document that should be downloaded as it is required to submit a bid. The emails and the PDF are crafted to appear to have been sent by the spoofed organization, and the website to which the user is directed resembles the official portal used by the spoofed government agency.

If the QR code is scanned, the user will be directed to a phishing site where they will be required to enter their Office 365 credentials, which will provide the attacker with access to their email account. Once access has been gained, the scammers can proceed to the next phase of the attack. They search the email account for messages related to banking or finance and use that information for their BEC attack and send messages to contacts that include fraudulent invoices or payment requests. The emails are sent from a trusted account, so the emails will likely be delivered and there is a good chance that the attack will be successful.

Security awareness training can help to raise awareness of the threat of these attacks with individuals involved in financial transactions in a company, and policies should be in place that require any requested change to banking information to be verified by phone using a previously verified phone number. It is also important to have an email security solution in place to block or flag potential BEC messages.

TitanHQ’s PhishTitan is an ideal choice. PhishTitan can identify and flag sophisticated phishing and BEC emails and can also read and follow the URLs encoded in QR codes. When a suspicious email is detected a banner is added to warn the user, and the emails can be auto-remediated and sent to the junk folder. PhishTitan improves Microsoft’s Office 365 spam filter. Independent tests by Virus Bulletin show the engine that powers T

itanHQ’s SpamTitan spam filter for Office 365 and the PhishTitan 0365 anti-phishing solution has a phishing catch rate of 99.914% with zero false positives. For every 80,000 emails received, PhishTitan identifies and blocks 20 unique, sophisticated phishing attempts that Microsoft’s top anti-phishing solution misses. The solution is also just a fraction of the cost of the average loss to a single BEC attack.

For more information about PhishTitan and how it can protect your business from advanced phishing and BEC attacks, give the TitanHQ team a call.

Facebook Messages Used to Distribute Snake Infostealer Malware

by Jennifer Marsh | Mar 20, 2024 | Phishing & Email Spam |

Malware is often distributed via email or websites linked in emails, and advanced email security solutions such as SpamTitan Plus can protect you by preventing the messages from reaching inboxes. SpamTitan Plus uses dual antivirus engines to detect known malware and sandboxing to identify and block zero-day malware threats. SpamTitan Plus also rewrites URLs, uses predictive analysis to identify suspicious URLs, and blocks those URLs to prevent users from reaching the websites where malware is hosted. To get around email security solutions, cybercriminals use other methods for making initial contact with end users, and instant messaging services are a popular alternative.

Researchers at Cybereason recently identified a malware distribution campaign that distributes a Python-based information stealer via Facebook messages. The infostealer has been dubbed Snake and has been developed to steal credentials and other sensitive information. The campaign was first detected in the summer of 2023 and targets businesses. The messages use lures such as complaints and offers of products from suppliers to trick users into visiting a link and downloading a file. As is common with malware distribution campaigns, the threat actor uses legitimate public repositories for hosting the malicious file, such as GitHub and GitLab. The file to which the user is directed is a compressed file and, if extracted, will lead to the execution of a first-stage downloader. The first-stage downloader fetches a second compressed file,  extracts the contents, and executes a second downloader, which delivers the Python infostealer.

Three different variants of the infostealer have been identified, all of which gain persistence via the StartUp folder. Each variant targets web browsers, including Brave, Chromium, Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Opera, and the Vietnamese CoC CoC browser, with the latter and other evidence suggesting that the campaign is being conducted by a Vietnamese threat actor. All three variants also target Facebook cookies. The gathered data and cookies are exfiltrated in a .zip file via the Telegram Bot API or Discord.

One way of blocking these attacks is to use a web filter to block access to instant messaging services that are not required for business purposes, including Facebook Messenger. With WebTitan it is possible to block Messenger without blocking the Facebook site, and controls can be implemented for different users to allow users with responsibility for updating the organization’s social media sites to access the platforms while preventing access for other users. It is also a good practice to use WebTitan to block downloads of executable files from the Internet to prevent malware delivery and stop employees from downloading and installing unauthorized software.

Dropbox Abused in Novel Phishing Attack to Obtain M365 Credentials

by Jennifer Marsh | Mar 14, 2024 | Phishing & Email Spam |

The file hosting service Dropbox is being abused in a novel phishing campaign that exploits trust in the platform to harvest Microsoft 365 credentials. The campaign targeted 16 employees of an organization who received an email from the no-reply[@]dropbox.com account, a legitimate email account that is used by Dropbox. The emails included a link that directed the recipients to a Dropbox-hosted PDF file, which was named to appear as if it had been created by one of the organization’s partners. If the PDF file was opened, the user would see a link that directs them to an unrelated domain – mmv-security[.]top. One of the employees was then sent a follow-up email reminding them to open the PDF file that was sent in the first email. They did, and they were directed to a phishing page that spoofed the Microsoft 365 login page. A couple of days later, suspicious logins were detected in the user’s Microsoft 365 account from unknown IP addresses, which were investigated and found to be associated with ExpressVPN, indicating the attacker was using the VPN to access the account and mask their IP address.

Multifactor authentication was correctly configured on the account but this appears to have been bypassed, with the logins appearing to use a valid MFA token. After capturing credentials, the employee is thought to have unknowingly approved the MFA authentication request which allowed the account to be compromised. The attacker gained access to the user’s email account and set up a new rule that moved emails from the organization’s accounts team to the Conversation History folder to hide the malicious use of the mailbox. Emails were also sent from the account to the accounts team in an apparent attempt to compromise their accounts.

Phishing attacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated and much more difficult for end users to identify. Security awareness training programs often teach users about the red flags in emails they should look out for, such as unsolicited emails from unknown senders, links to unusual domains, and to be wary of any requests that have urgency and carry a threat should no action be taken. Impersonation is common in phishing attacks, but in this case, the impersonation went further with the emails sent from a valid and trusted account. That means that the email is more likely to be trusted and unlikely to be blocked by email security solutions, especially as the emails include a link to a file hosted on a trusted platform. This was also a staged attack, with follow-up emails sent, which in this case proved effective even though the second email was delivered to the junk email folder. The login page to which the user was directed looked exactly the same as the genuine login prompt for Microsoft 365, aside from the domain on which it was hosted.

Many businesses have configured multifactor authentication on their Microsoft 365 accounts, but as this attack demonstrates, MFA can be bypassed. The sophisticated nature of phishing attacks such as this demonstrates how important it is for businesses to have advanced defenses against phishing. TitanHQ’s anti-phishing solutions use AI and a large language model (LLM) with proprietary threat intelligence currently not found in any other anti-phishing and anti-spam software solutions on the market. All emails are scanned – internal and external – for phrases and keywords that are unusual and could indicate malicious intent. All URLs are checked against various threat intelligence feeds to identify malicious URLs, and URLs are rewritten to show their true destination. The solution also learns from feedback provided by users and detection improves further over time. The curated and unique email threat intelligence data is unmatched in visibility, coverage, and accuracy, and TitanHQ’s anti-spam and email security solutions feature sandboxing, where attachments are subjected to deep analysis in addition to signature-based anti-virus scanning. When a malicious email is detected, all other instances are removed from the entire M365 tenant.

If you want to improve your defenses against sophisticated phishing attacks give the TitanHQ team a call. If you are a Managed Service Provider looking for an easy-to-use solution to protect your clients from phishing and malware, look no further than TitanHQ. All solutions have been developed from the ground up to meet the needs of MSPs to better protect their customers from spam, phishing, malware, and BEC attacks.

CryptoChameleon Phishing Kit Targets FCC Employees and Cryptocurrency Platform Users

by Jennifer Marsh | Mar 5, 2024 | Phishing & Email Spam |

A new phishing kit has been identified that is being used to target employees of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the cryptocurrency platforms Binance and Coinbase, as well as users of cryptocurrency platforms such as Binance, Coinbase, Caleb & Brown, Gemini, Kraken, ShakePay, and Trezor.

A phishing kit is a set of tools and templates that allows threat actors to conduct effective phishing campaigns. These kits are marketed on the dark web to hackers and allow them to conduct phishing campaigns without having to invest time and money into setting up their own infrastructure. Phishing kits range from simple kits that provide phishing templates and cloned login pages, to more advanced kits that are capable of adversary-in-the-middle attacks that can defeat multifactor authentication. These kits significantly lower the entry barrier for conducting phishing campaigns as they require little technical expertise. Pay a relatively small fee and sophisticated phishing campaigns can be conducted in a matter of minutes.

The new phishing kit is called CryptoChameleon and allows users to create carbon copies of the single sign-on (SSO) pages that are used by the targeted businesses. Employees are used to authenticating through a single solution, through which they authenticate with many business applications. The kit also includes templates for phishing pages to harvest the credentials of cryptocurrency platform users and employees, including pages that impersonate Okta, iCloud, Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, AOL, and Twitter.

The phishing operation was discovered by researchers at Lookout and more than 100 high-value victims of this campaign have been identified to date. Threat actors using the kit have been contacting users via SMS, email, and phone calls to trick them into visiting a malicious site where their credentials are harvested. Users are redirected to a phishing site but before the content is displayed, they are required to pass an hCAPTCHA check. This helps with the credibility of the campaign, but most importantly it prevents automated analysis tools and security solutions from identifying the phishing site.

In the campaign targeting FCC employees, after passing the hCAPTCHA check, the user is presented with a login page that is a carbon copy of the FCC Okta page. The domain on which the page is hosted – fcc-okta[.com] – differs only slightly (1 character) from the legitimate FCC Okta login page. Login credentials alone are not normally enough to gain access to accounts as many are now protected by MFA. The captured login credentials are used to log in to the real account in real time, and the victim is then directed to the appropriate page where additional information is collected to pass the MFA checks. This could be a page that requests their SMS-based token or the MFA token from their authenticator app. Once the MFA check has been passed and the account has been accessed by the threat actor, the victim can be redirected anywhere. For instance, they could be shown a message that the login has been unsuccessful and they must try again later.

To target cryptocurrency platform users, messages are sent about security alerts such as warnings that their account has been accessed. These messages are likely to attract a rapid response due to the risk of substantial financial losses. In the campaign targeting Coinbase, the user is told they can secure their account and if they log in they can terminate suspicious devices. A similar process is used to obtain the credentials and MFA codes needed to access the account as the FCC campaign.

This is just one of many phishing kits offered on the dark web. Protecting against these phishing kits requires a combination of measures including an advanced spam filter, web filter, and security awareness training. For further information on cybersecurity solutions capable of combatting advanced phishing attempts, give the TitanHQ team a call.

Phishing-as-a-Service Poses a Serious Threat to Businesses

by Jennifer Marsh | Feb 28, 2024 | Phishing & Email Spam |

Cybercriminals are increasingly offering services that make it easy for anyone to conduct an attack. Skilled malware developers can concentrate on writing their malware and making it available for others to use for a fee, ransomware-as-a-service allows hackers who are skilled at breaching networks to conduct lucrative ransomware attacks without having to develop encryptors and pay for the infrastructure to their support attacks, and phishing-as-a-service provides a platform for conducting attacks to steal credentials and access accounts. These services benefit all parties and allow even more attacks to be conducted.

Phishing campaigns may appear simple, but they require a lot of time and skill to set up. Stephanie Carruthers, who leads an IBM X-Force phishing research project, said it takes her team about 16 hours to craft a phishing email, not including the time it takes to set up all the necessary infrastructure to send the email and steal credentials. Setting up the infrastructure is time-consuming and costly, and many businesses now have multi-factor authentication (MFA) to thwart attacks.

With phishing-as-a-service (PhaaS), anyone who wants to run a phishing campaign can simply pay a subscription and will be provided with all the tools they need to conduct attacks. They do not need to craft the phishing emails, they just need to set a few parameters and provide the email addresses for the campaign. PhaaS makes conducting sophisticated attacks simple and significantly lowers the bar for conducting campaigns.

Take LabHost, for example, a PhaaS platform that recently introduced functionality for targeting financial institutions and banks in North America and Canada. Since this new functionality was included in the first half of 2023, attacks have increased considerably. A monthly subscription is paid, and customers are provided with a turnkey phishing kit, which includes the infrastructure for hosting phishing pages, a content generator for creating phishing emails, and a portal for monitoring the progress of campaigns. Customers can choose to pay $179 per month to target Canadian banks, $249 per month to expand the targets to North America, and $300 a month to also target 70 financial institutions worldwide. Customers are also provided with phishing pages for collecting credentials or a variety of other companies, including music streaming sites, delivery services, and telecommunications companies.

Important to the success of any campaign is the ability to defeat multi-factor authentication. The LabHost phishing kit incorporates LabRat, a phishing tool that allows real-time management of phishing campaigns and allows adversary-in-the-middle attacks where two-factor authentication codes and cookies are obtained in addition to usernames and passwords. That means the additional security processes on the online portals of banks can be circumvented. The platform also allows SMS-based attacks to be conducted.

PhaaS allows unskilled hackers to conduct effective campaigns that they otherwise would not be able to conduct. Further, with the use of AI to craft convincing phishing emails, phishing emails are becoming much harder for humans and security solutions to detect, and even MFA and other security measures can be bypassed.

Defending against attacks is therefore challenging, and there is no single cybersecurity solution that will block all attacks. What is needed is a defense-in-depth approach, with multiple, overlapping layers of protection. Cybersecurity solutions are required to block the phishing emails. SpamTitan is an advanced email security solution with AI and machine learning capabilities for identifying novel phishing threats. SpamTitan blocks known malware through AV controls and unknown malware through sandboxing. The message sandboxing feature uses pattern filtering to identify malware from its behavior, which allows zero-day malware threats to be identified and blocked. Malware sandboxing is vital for email security since so many novel malware threats are now being released. SpamTitan is also capable of identifying even machine-crafted phishing content.

End user training is also vital, as no email security solution will block all email threats without also blocking an unacceptable number of genuine emails. End users should be trained on how to identify, avoid, and report phishing emails. The SafeTitan security awareness training platform makes security awareness training simple, and the constantly updated content allows businesses to respond to changing phishing tactics and conduct phishing simulations on the workforce to reinforce training and identify knowledge gaps.

Given the number of phishing kits that are capable of bypassing multi-factor authentication, simply enabling MFA on accounts is no longer sufficient to protect against unauthorized access. Phishing-resistant multi-factor authentication is required – FIDO/ WebAuthn authentication or Public key infrastructure (PKI)-based MFA – to block adversary-in-the-middle attacks that can be conducted through PhaaS.

If you want to improve your defenses against phishing and other cybercriminal services, give the TitanHQ team a call to discuss your options.

Massive Spamming Campaign Uses Thousands of Hijacked Subdomains

by Jennifer Marsh | Feb 26, 2024 | Phishing & Email Spam |

A massive email spamming campaign has been detected that is generating up to 5 million emails per day that direct recipients of the emails to a variety of scam sites. The emails are sent through hijacked subdomains and domains of trusted companies, which help these emails evade email security solutions and be delivered to inboxes. Companies that have had domains and subdomains hijacked include eBay, CBS, McAfee, MSN, and Symantec.

Email security solutions perform a range of checks on inbound emails, including reputation checks on the senders of emails. If a domain is trusted and has not previously been associated with spamming, these checks – using SPK, DKIM, and DMARC – are likely to be passed, resulting in the emails being delivered to end users. The use of these legitimate domains also makes it harder for end users to determine whether the messages are genuine. Security awareness training programs often teach end users to check the sender of the email and make sure that it matches the company being spoofed. If the domain is eBay, and the email uses eBay branding, end users are likely to think that the communication is genuine. These emails include links to websites that generate fraudulent ad revenue, and often several redirects occur before the user lands on the destination scam or phishing site.

The ‘SubdoMailing’ campaign was identified by researchers at Guardio Labs, with the legitimate domains typically hijacked through SPF record exploitation or CNAME hijacking. The former involves searching for domains that use the ‘include’ configuration option that points to external domains that are no longer registered. Those domains are then registered by the threat actor and the SPF records are changed to authorize the use of their own email servers. When those servers are used to send emails, they appear to have been sent by the targeted brand, such as eBay.

With CNAME hijacking, scans are conducted to identify subdomains of reputable brands with CNAME records that point to external domains that are no longer registered. The threat actor then registers those domains, SPF records are injected, and emails can be sent from their email servers to show that they have been sent by a legitimate company. By hijacking huge numbers of domains and subdomains, the threat actor is able to conduct massive spamming campaigns. The researchers identified more than 13,000 subdomains and more than 8,000 domains that were used in the campaign, with more than 1000 residential lines used and almost 22,000 unique IPs. The researchers developed a tool to allow domain owners to check whether their own domains have been hijacked and take action to stop that abuse. An advanced spam filter is required to block the messages that are set from these hijacked domains and subdomains – one that does not rely on SPF, DKIM, and DMARC for identifying spam emails.

Travel Companies Impersonated in Malware Distribution Campaign

by Jennifer Marsh | Feb 26, 2024 | Phishing & Email Spam |

Cybercriminals are constantly devising new email campaigns for distributing malware. These campaigns usually impersonate a trusted entity and advise the email recipient about a pressing issue that requires immediate attention. The emails often have an attached file that must be opened to find out further information about the issue detailed in the email.

One recently detected campaign impersonates travel service providers such as booking.com and advises the recipient about a problem with a recent booking. One of the intercepted emails explains that an error has occurred with a booking that has resulted in a double charge to the user’s credit card which requires immediate attention. The email has a PDF attachment which needs to be opened for further information. PDF files are increasingly being used in email campaigns for distributing malware. The PDF files often contain a script that generates an error message when the file is opened that tells the user that the content of the file cannot be displayed, and they are provided with an option to download the file.

In this campaign, the PDF file contains a script that generates a fake popup message. If clicked, a connection is made to a malicious URL and a download of an obfuscated JavaScript file is initiated. The script downloads the next stage PowerShell payload, and on execution, drops a malicious DLL file on the device. The DLL file searches for certain critical system processes and attempts to forcibly stop them, makes changes to the registry that affect the Windows Antimalware Scan Interface (AMSI) and ensures that the malware is executed without being detected by security solutions. An analysis of the DLL file by researchers at Forcepoint shows the file is from the Agent Tesla malware family. Agent Tesla is a remote access trojan (RAT) that first appeared in 2014 and grew in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Agent Tesla is provided under the malware-as-a-service model and is popular with initial access brokers, who specialize in gaining access to devices and accounts and then sell that access to other cybercriminals such as ransomware gangs.

Agent Tesla allows commands to be run on compromised systems and is capable of stealing sensitive information, such as login credentials stored in browsers. The malware can also take screenshots, log keystrokes, and perform other malicious actions. The malware uses multiple layers of obfuscation to ensure it is not detected by antivirus solutions. The malware is commonly used to gain initial access to business networks, primarily through phishing campaigns. In this campaign, by impersonating a popular travel service company there is a reasonable chance that the user may have used the service in the past or have a current booking and will therefore open the email. However, since the emails reference a charge to a credit card, that may be sufficient to get the user to open the attachment.

To protect against this and other malware distribution campaigns, businesses should ensure that they protect all endpoints with email security and antivirus solutions that are capable of behavioral analysis of files, as Agent Tesla and many other popular malware variants use obfuscation to bypass signature-based security solutions. Web filtering solutions provide added protection as they block connections to the malicious URLs that host malware and they can be configured to block downloads of executable files from the Internet. It is also important to provide security awareness training to the workforce to raise awareness of cyber threats and conduct phishing simulations to test the effectiveness of training.

TitanHQ offers a range of cybersecurity solutions for businesses and managed service providers to help them defend against cyber threats delivered via email and the Internet, including spam filtering with email sandboxing, web filtering, and security awareness training. Give the team a call today to find out more about improving your defenses against phishing and malware. All TitanHQ solutions are available on a free trial to allow you to test the products and see for yourself the difference they make.

Massive Phishing Campaign Leverages Google Cloud Run to Deliver Banking Trojans

by Jennifer Marsh | Feb 22, 2024 | Phishing & Email Spam |

A massive malware distribution campaign has been detected that uses phishing emails for initial contact with businesses and Google Cloud Run for hosting the malware. A variety of banking trojans are being distributed including Astaroth, Mekotio, and Ousaban. The campaign primarily targets countries in Latin America, and as such the majority of the phishing emails are in Spanish, but Italian versions have also been detected and there are indications that the campaign is spreading to other regions including Europe and North America.

The phishing emails used in this campaign appear to be legitimate invoices, statements, and communications from government and tax agencies and include a link that the recipient must click to view the attached invoice, statement, or demand. The link directs the user to services on Google Cloud Run, which is a popular service for hosting frontend and backend services and deploying websites and applications without having to manage infrastructure. Google Cloud Run has been used for hosting malware throughout 2023 but there was a massive spike in activity that started in September 2023 and has continued through January and February.

Over the past few months, Google’s service has been proving popular with cybercriminals for hosting malware as it is both cost-effective and is generally not blocked by security solutions. If a user clicks the email link, an MSI file is downloaded onto their device. MSI files are executable files, which in this case include embedded JavaScript that downloads additional files and delivers one or more banking trojans.

The banking trojans achieve persistence through LNK files in the startup folder that execute a PowerShell command on boot that runs the infection script. The banking trojans are capable of keylogging, clipboard monitoring, screenshots, credential theft, and traffic manipulation to direct users to cloned websites of financial institutions to capture banking credentials. The Astaroth banking trojan alone targets more than 300 financial institutions as well as cryptocurrency exchanges.

To protect against this and other malware distribution campaigns, businesses need to adopt a defense-in-depth approach and should implement multiple layers of protection. The first line of defense is a spam filter or email security solution to block the initial phishing emails. SpamTitan Plus is a leading-edge anti-spam service that provides maximum protection against malicious emails. The solution has better coverage, faster phishing link detections, and the lowest false positive rate of any product, which makes it the best spam filter for businesses and an ideal MSP spam filtering solution In addition to including all leading phishing feeds to ensure the fastest possible detection of new phishing threats, SpamTitan Plus uses predictive analysis to identify suspicious URLs that have not yet been detected as malicious.

A web filter, such as WebTitan, can be used to control access to the Internet. For example, blocks can be placed on websites and certain categories of websites down to the user level, the solution prevents access to all known malicious URLs, and can be configured to block file downloads from the Internet, such as MSI files and other executable files that are often used for malware delivery.

Cybercriminals often host malware on legitimate hosting platforms which are usually trusted by security solutions, which means malicious emails may be delivered to end users. It is therefore important to provide security awareness training for the workforce. Security awareness training raises awareness of the threats that employees are likely to encounter and teaches them security best practices to help them identify, avoid, and report cyber threats. Combined with phishing simulations, it is possible to greatly reduce susceptibility to phishing and malspam emails. Data from companies that use the SafeTitan security awareness training platform and phishing simulator shows susceptibility to phishing threats can be reduced by up to 80%.

If you are looking to improve your defenses against phishing and malware, give the TitanHQ team a call to find out more about these products and to help get you set up for a free trial to put these solutions to the test in your own environment.

Spear Phishing is the Most Common Method of Initial Access in the EU

by Jennifer Marsh | Feb 21, 2024 | Phishing & Email Spam |

A recent report from the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-EU) has provided insights into how EU organizations are being targeted by nation-state-sponsored actors and cybercriminal groups. The majority of nation-state activity has been linked to hacking groups in the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China, and while it is not always possible to determine the motives behind cyberattacks and intrusions, the majority of nation-state hacking activity is believed to be conducted to achieve cyberespionage objectives. The aim of these campaigns is to gain access to accounts/emails or servers where sensitive data is stored. Around 73% of all attacks within the EU are believed to be conducted for espionage purposes, with 16% of attacks conducted by hacktivists. Some of the hacktivism incidents are thought to be a front for nation-state activity.

In contrast to the United States, cybercriminal activity accounts for a low percentage of all malicious activity, with only 7% of intrusions attributed to cybercrime. CERT-EU reports that only a very limited number of cybercrime actors are conducting attacks within the EU, and the majority of that activity comes from ransomware groups. These groups gain access to internal networks, steal sensitive data, and encrypt files then demand payment to prevent the publication of the stolen data and for the keys to decrypt data.

In 2023, CERT-EU identified 55 ransomware operations that were active within the EU, and 906 victims were identified from data leak sites and open sources. It should be noted that not all ransomware attacks are reported and many companies quietly pay the ransom, so the true total could be substantially higher. Many of these attacks appeared to be opportunistic in nature rather than targeted. While there are many different ransomware groups, the most active in the EU were LockBit, Play, and BlackBasta, although in Q4, 2023 there was a large increase in attacks by the 8Base group, with NoEscape also highly active in the second half of the year. Ransomware groups attacked a wide range of sectors, with manufacturing the worst affected with 24% of attacks, followed by legal/professional services (14%), and construction/engineering (12%).

A variety of methods were used to gain access to targeted networks. 104 software products were targeted with these attacks often exploiting vulnerabilities in internet-facing products, involving trojanized software, fake software, and abuse of public repositories used for programming languages. Some of the most significant attacks of the year involved networking products, such Fortinet, Cisco, and Citrix products, as well as password managers such as 1Password or LastPass, content management and collaboration tools such as WordPress and Altassian Confluence, and cloud services. While many attacks used these methods for initial access, by far the most common method was spear phishing for both cybercriminal and nation-state threat actors.

Spear phishing attacks include malicious links to websites where credentials are harvested or malicious attachments. There was a significant increase in spear phishing attacks that used lures related to EU affairs, with it common to include decoy PDF files that were originally internal or publicly available documents related to EU policies, for example, documents relating to the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the European Union,  EU – Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) Summit, and the Working Party of Foreign Relations Counsellors (RELEX). These campaigns were directed at individuals and organizations involved in EU policies, and the emails often impersonated staff members of union entities or the public administration of EU countries to add credibility. Public administration entities were the most targeted, followed by entities in diplomacy, defense, transport, finance, health, energy, and technologies. While spear phishing is usually performed via email, CERT-EU notes some diversification of communications, with attacks also conducted via social media networks, instant messaging services, and SMS messages.

Entities in the EU should implement layered defenses against the most common initial access vectors. An advanced email security solution should be implemented that is capable of signature and behavioral analysis of emailed files, with extensive threat intelligence feeds, and AI/machine learning capabilities. SpamTitan anti-spam software has all of these features and more and will protect your business from all types of email-based attacks. SpamTitan is offered as a cloud-based anti-spam service or can be provided as an anti-spam gateway for on-premises environments. A web filter such as WebTitan will protect against the internet-based component of cyberattacks by blocking access to malicious sites, and security awareness training and phishing simulations should be conducted on the workforce using a solution such as SafeTitan. To protect against unauthorized account access, multi-factor authentication should be implemented and software should be kept up to date with the latest updates and patches applied promptly.

Malware Increasingly Distributed via Emailed PDF Files

by Jennifer Marsh | Feb 20, 2024 | Phishing & Email Spam |

There has been a marked increase in email campaigns using malicious PDF files to distribute malware, rather than the typical uses of PDF files for obtaining sensitive information such as login credentials.

Increased security measures implemented by Microsoft have made it harder for cybercriminals to use macros in Office documents in their email campaigns, with PDF files a good alternative. Malicious links can be embedded in PDF files that drive victims to web pages where credentials are harvested. By using PDF files to house the links, they are less likely to be blocked by email security solutions.

Over the past few months, PDF files have been increasingly used to distribute malware. One of the currently active campaigns uses malicious emailed PDF files to infect users with DarkGate malware. DarkGate malware is offered under the malware-as-a-service model and provides cybercriminals with backdoor access to infected devices. In this campaign, emails are sent to targets that contain a PDF attachment that displays a fake image from Microsoft OneDrive that suggests there was a problem connecting which has prevented the content from being displayed. The user is given the option to download the PDF file; however, the downloaded files will install DarkGate malware.

In this campaign, clicking the link does not directly lead to the malware download, instead, the click routes through an ad network, so the final destination cannot be identified by checking the link of the download button. Further, since the ad network uses CAPTCHAs, the threat actors can make sure that the destination URL is not revealed to email security solutions. If the CAPTCHA is passed, the user will be redirected to the malicious URL where they can download the file.  This is often a compressed file that contains a text file and a URL file, with the latter downloading and running JavaScript code which executes a PowerShell command that downloads and executes the malicious payload.

PDF files have been used in many other malware campaigns, including those that distribute the Ursnif banking Trojan and WikiLoader malware. Recent campaigns distributing these malware variants have used parcel delivery lures with PDF file attachments that contain a link that prompts the user to download a fake invoice. Instead of the invoice, a zip file is downloaded that contains a JavaScript file. If executed, the JavaScript file downloads an archive, extracts the contents, and executes the malware payload. Another campaign uses PDF files to install the Agent Tesla remote access trojan using Booking.com-related lures.

Not only do PDF files have a greater chance of evading email security solutions, they are also more trusted by end users than Office file attachments. Security awareness campaigns are often focused on training employees about the risks of phishing, such as clicking links in unsolicited emails and the risks of opening unsolicited office files. Malicious email campaigns using PDF files arouse less suspicion and end users are more likely to be tricked by these campaigns.

It is important for businesses to incorporate PDF files into their security awareness training and phishing simulation campaigns to better prepare employees for this growing threat. With SafeTitan, adding new content in response to the changing tactics, techniques, and procedures of threat actors is a quick and easy process. Get in touch with the TitanHQ team today to find out more about the SafeTitan security awareness training and phishing simulation platform and discover the difference the solution can make to your organization’s security posture.

Bumblebee Malware Returns With a Large-Scale Phishing Campaign

by Jennifer Marsh | Feb 18, 2024 | Phishing & Email Spam |

A large-scale phishing campaign has been identified that has already targeted many thousands of organizations in the United States and could be expanded geographically. The purpose of the campaign is to distribute Bumblebee malware, a malware loader that was first identified in 2022 and is thought to be a replacement for the widely used BazarLoader malware loader. Bumblebee malware is used for gaining initial access to networks and has been used in many successful cyberattacks. The malware is rented out to cybercriminals or access to compromised networks is sold to cybercriminal groups such as ransomware gangs. The malware has been linked to several high-profile threat actors and notorious ransomware gangs, including the now-defunct Conti ransomware group.

Over the past four months, Bumblebee malware has not been detected but it has now returned with a massive campaign. A variety of lures are used in phishing emails, which incorporate social engineering techniques to trick the recipients into downloading and executing the malware. For instance, the latest campaign included thousands of emails using the subject Voicemail February, with messages indicating the user had missed a voice call. The emails instructed the recipient to download the recording, the opening of which triggered the infection process. Other emails used in the campaign have used Word documents with malicious macros with the emails spoofing trusted companies, such as the electronics firm Humane. Rather than include the document attached to the email, a OneDrive link was provided in the email from which the document could be downloaded. This was an effort to prevent detection by email security solutions, as OneDrive is a legitimate and trusted service. Previous campaigns have used DocuSign branded emails that trick users into downloading a zipped ISO file from OneDrive.The group is known to hijack email threads to make it appear that the emails are responses to previous conversations with contacts.

Multiple threat actors are believed to rent out the malware, including the initial access brokers who work with ransomware gangs. Bumblebee malware infections are often accompanied by other payloads, including Cobalt Strike, Meterpreter, Sliver, and shellcode, and often lead to ransomware attacks. To combat Bumblebee malware infections, businesses should implement robust defenses against phishing. An advanced email security solution is required with AI and machine learning capabilities that can detect novel phishing attempts. SpamTitan Plus uses a machine learning algorithm that can identify emails that deviate from those typically received by a business, links are rewritten and followed and the destination URL is assessed. All emails are subjected to antivirus scans and suspicious attachments are sent to a Bitdefender-powered sandbox for behavioral analysis.

Security awareness training should be provided to the workforce to improve resilience to phishing attempts by teaching security best practices and how to identify phishing attempts. SafeTitan is a comprehensive security awareness training platform and phishing simulator that is updated with new content regularly in response to changing phishing tactics, including those used in Bumblebee campaigns. It is also recommended to implement multi-factor authentication on accounts, perform daily backups and store them offline, implement next-generation antivirus technology on endpoints, and implement network hierarchy protocols and network segmentation to prevent lateral movement.

Business Microsoft 365 Accounts Attacks Using Greatness Phishing Kit

by Jennifer Marsh | Jan 31, 2024 | Phishing & Email Spam |

Phishing has long been the most common way that cybercriminals gain initial access to business networks. A successful attack allows a threat actor to steal credentials and gain a foothold in the network, providing access to sensitive data and giving them the access they need to conduct a range of nefarious actions. Phishers must develop campaigns that are capable of bypassing email security solutions and use lures that are likely to fool end users into disclosing their credentials or opening malicious email attachments. In recent years, the entry barrier for conducting phishing campaigns has been significantly lowered through phishing-as-a-service (PhaaS), which has proven popular with would-be cybercriminals.

Phishing kits are offered that provide everything needed to launch successful phishing campaigns, without having to spend hours setting up the infrastructure, creating convincing emails, and incorporating anti-detection measures to ensure emails land in inboxes. A relatively new phishing kit is proving to be particularly popular. The Greatness phishing kit has been available since mid-2022 and lowers the bar for starting phishing campaigns, requiring a payment of just $120 a month to use the kit. The Greatness phishing kit allows emails to be customized to suit the hacker’s needs and add attachments, links, or QR codes to the emails. The kit makes it easy to generate and send emails and create obfuscated messages that can bypass many cybersecurity solutions and land in inboxes. The kit also supports multi-factor authentication (MFA) bypass by performing a man-in-the-middle attack to steal authentication codes and can be integrated with Telegram bots.

The kit has an attachment and link builder that creates convincing login pages for harvesting Microsoft 365 credentials and even pre-fills the victim’s email address into the login box, only requiring them to enter their password. The kit also adds the targeted company’s logo to the phishing page along with a background image that is extracted from the targeted organization’s M365 login page. As such, the Greatness phishing kit is aimed at individuals looking to target businesses and can be easily purchased through the developer’s Telegram channel. There were several spikes in Greatness phishing kit activity in 2023, with the latest detected in December 2023 and the increased activity has continued into 2024. Phishing kits such as Greatness significantly lower the barrier for entry to cybercrime and make it as easy as possible to start phishing, and the low cost of the kit has made it an attractive option for would-be cybercriminals. This phishing kit is used to target Microsoft 365 users, and the emails can be convincing and are likely to fool many end users.

The key to defending against phishing attacks is to implement layered defenses to ensure that a failure of one defensive measure does not leave the business unprotected. TitanHQ has developed a suite of cybersecurity solutions for businesses and the MSPs that serve them to improve their defenses against phishing, including AI-generated phishing emails and sophisticated phishing kits capable of stealing passwords and MFA codes.

TitanHQ’s PhishTitan provides advanced phishing protection and remediation for Microsoft 365. TitanHQ’s proprietary machine-learning algorithm integrates directly with Microsoft 365 and catches and remediates sophisticated phishing including AI-generated phishing emails, business email compromise, spear phishing, and phishing attacks that bypass MFA. The solution augments rather than replaces EOP and Defender and catches the phishing attempts that those defensive measures often miss.

PhishTitan uses AI and a large language model (LLM) with proprietary threat intelligence currently not found in any other anti-phishing solution on the market, and will scan attachments for malicious links and malware, rewrite URLs, apply banner notifications, and block malicious links. PhishTitna also provides time-of-click protection to combat the weaponization of links after delivery. The solution uses machine learning algorithms to scan the message body to assess email content and identify words, phrasing, and formatting of emails indicating a phishing attempt, and will learn over time and become even more effective.

PhishTitan is suitable for businesses of all types and sizes and has been developed from the ground up to meet the needs of MSPs. The solution can be set up in less than 10 minutes, and MSPs can add new clients in less than 6 minutes and start protecting them from highly sophisticated phishing attacks. For maximum protection, TitanHQ also offers WebTitan DNS filter to protect against web-based attacks, ArcTitan email archiving for security and compliance, EncryptTitan for email encryption, SafeTitan for security awareness training and phishing simulations, and the SpamTitan Suite of email security solutions. All products are available on a no-obligation, 100% free trial and product demonstrations are available on request. For more information on PhishTitan and other TitanHQ solutions, give the TitanHQ team a call today.

Microsoft Teams Used to Push DarkGate Malware

by Jennifer Marsh | Jan 30, 2024 | Phishing & Email Spam |

Phishing is most commonly associated with email; however, there are a variety of ways that cybercriminals can make contact with end users and other forms of phishing are becoming much more common. Smishing is the use of SMS messages for phishing which targets users via their smartphones, which tend to have far weaker security controls than laptops and PCs. Voice phishing is also common, where malicious actors trick people into disclosing sensitive information or installing malware over the phone. Phishing can also take place via social media networks and video conferencing platforms such as Microsoft Teams.

A campaign has recently been identified that uses Microsoft Teams group chat requests for phishing. A threat actor appears to be using a compromised account to send Teams group chat invites to thousands of individuals. The compromised User’s Teams account is likely to have been compromised in a phishing, credential stuffing, or brute force attack. This campaign aims to install malware on users’ systems – a malware variant called DarkGate. DarkGate malware was first identified in 2018 and is a remote access Trojan that can install a hidden virtual network computing (hVNC) module to provide remote access to a victim’s device. The malware has keylogging and information-stealing capabilities and can steal cookies and information stored in browsers, Discord tokens, and cryptocurrency wallets. The malware can also download other payloads such as ransomware.

In this campaign, if a user accepts the group chat request, the threat actor uses social engineering techniques to trick them into downloading a file to their device. The user is tricked into thinking that they are downloading a PDF file, but they download an executable file. The file – Navigating Future Changes October 2023.pdf.msi – has a double extension. On Windows systems, which are typically configured to hide known file extensions, the file will be displayed as Navigating Future Changes October 2023.pdf. If the user double-clicks on the file, the malware will be installed and will connect to its command-and-control server, giving the treat actor control over the user’s device.

Microsoft Teams has become a popular target for threat actors for malware distribution. There are around 280 million monthly users, and the default settings allow Microsoft Teams users to receive chat requests from external Microsoft Teams users. While most users will have antivirus software on their devices for detecting malware, DarkGate malware is stealthy and often evades antivirus software. There are several steps that businesses can take to combat these attacks. The most important of which is to disable External Access in Microsoft Teams unless it is absolutely necessary for day-to-day business use. This will ensure that users can only receive chat requests internally, which will greatly reduce risk.

Another important measure is to provide regular security awareness training to the workforce. Employees should be taught cybersecurity basics such as how to recognize a phishing attempt and should be made aware of the latest tactics used by cybercriminals in attacks on employees. Training should be provided continuously, with short training sessions conducted every month. When new phishing techniques are identified, short training modules can be pushed out to employees to make them aware of the threat. With the SafeTitan security awareness training platform this is easy. The platform has a wide range of CBT content, with training modules lasting no more than 10 minutes so they are easy to fit in to workflows.

If you do not currently provide regular security awareness training to your workforce, contact TitanHQ about SafeTitan. Product demonstrations can be arranged on request, and you can test the product for yourself in a free trial.

Advanced Phishing Protection for Managed Service Providers

by Jennifer Marsh | Jan 29, 2024 | Phishing & Email Spam |

Alarmingly, 71% of Microsoft business users report that they suffer at least one compromised account each month. The biggest cause of account compromises is phishing. Phishing is the fraudulent practice of making contact with an individual and tricking them into taking an action that the attacker wants, which is usually to disclose their credentials to allow an attacker to remotely access their account. Phishing attacks usually involve impersonation, where the attacker claims they are an authority figure, such as the CEO of the company, a friend or colleague, or a representative of a reputable company.

The capturing of credentials usually occurs on a website with initial contact with the individual usually occurring via email, although phishing attacks are also conducted via SMS messages (smishing), telephone (vishing), social media networks, and instant messaging services.

Phishing targets members of the workforce, including employees and board members, and it is the responsibility of security teams and managed service providers to block as many phishing attempts as possible and ensure that if phishing attempts do bypass defenses, end users have been trained to recognize phishing attempts and report them. Security teams naturally concentrate on the former, as phishing will only succeed if an attacker can make contact. The problem is that cybercriminals are developing highly sophisticated phishing campaigns that are difficult for traditional email security solutions to identify and block.

Cybercriminals target Microsoft 365 credentials as they provide access to a wealth of sensitive data and to email accounts which can be used to conduct further phishing attacks internally and on the company’s customers and vendors. Once credentials have been obtained, they can be used for a much more extensive attack on a company. TitanHQ has received feedback from its managed service provider (MSP) customers that Microsoft 365 phishing is the number one problem to solve in the email security community.

TitanHQ already has products that can protect against phishing. There is the SpamTitan suite of products for email security, WebTitan for protecting against web-based attacks, including blocking access to the websites where credentials are obtained, and the SafeTitan security awareness and phishing simulation platform for educating the workforce on cybersecurity threats and testing resilience through simulated phishing emails.

What was needed, however, was a new solution that is specifically focused on phishing. “We therefore allocated resources and investment to develop a solution with new, cutting-edge, robust, fast phishing threat intelligence driven by a team of security specialists,” said TitanHQ CEO, Ronan Kavanagh. “We are pleased to be able to meet the market’s needs with a product that delivers.”

PhishTitan has been developed to help MSPs and businesses improve their phishing defenses for Microsoft 365, as Microsoft’s defensive measures – EOP and Defender – are failing to identify and block many phishing attempts. PhishTitan is a next-generation phishing protection and remediation solution for Microsoft 365, which integrates TitanHQ’s proprietary machine-learning algorithm directly with Microsoft 365 to augment EOP and Defender and catch and remediate the sophisticated phishing attacks that EOP and Defender miss.

PhishTitan has been developed from the ground up to meet the needs of MSPs and allow them to block more phishing attempts on their clients and remediate phishing attempts rapidly, without having to commit extensive resources to managing email security for each client.

PhishTitan is functionally rich, offering multiple integration options, and has granular policy controls, a full reporting suite, and provides comprehensive protection. Businesses can set up the solution themselves in around 10 minutes, and MSPs can add new clients in just 6 minutes.

PhishTitan Features

• AI-driven solution that is capable of identifying and blocking zero-day threats
• Scans and blocks malicious links
• Scans and neutralizes malware
• Detects unique and sophisticated phishing and BEC attacks over and above those detected by EOP and Defender
• Rewrites URLs and applies banner notifications
• Time of click protection to combat links that are weaponized after delivery
• Protection against data leakage of sensitive company information
• Instant remediation across an entire tenant
• Real-time visibility and reporting suite on emerging threats
• Phishing intelligence data that is unmatched in visibility, coverage, and accuracy.

If you are struggling to block phishing attacks on your M365 accounts or are a managed service provider who wants to improve phishing protection for your customers, give the TitanHQ team a call to find out more about how PhishTitan works and how it can improve your defenses against phishing. Product demonstrations can be arranged on request and PhishTitan is available on a free trial.

PikaBot Malware Now Distributed via Fake Ads for AnyDesk

by Jennifer Marsh | Jan 26, 2024 | Phishing & Email Spam |

There has been a change in the distribution method of PikaBot malware, which is now being pushed in a malvertising campaign. Previously PikaBot was only distributed via phishing emails. PikaBot malware was first identified in early 2023 and is a modular malware Trojan that consists of two components: a loader and a core module. The malware allows the operator to gain remote access to compromised systems and execute a range of commands, including shell commands and fetching and running EXE or DLL files. The malware also allows downloads of additional malware payloads and post-compromise tools. The malware is known to be used by a prolific threat actor tracked as TA577, with infection leading to the deployment of Cobalt Strike.

The malvertising campaign uses Google Ads for AnyDesk, a remote desktop application popular with businesses. Google has security checks in place to prevent malicious adverts from being displayed and these are being bypassed by using a tracking URL with a legitimate marketing platform, with the custom domain for the redirect protected by Cloudflare. The malicious adverts are displayed when users search for popular software such as Zoom, Advanced IP Scanner, and WinSCP.

If the Ad is clicked by a user, they are directed to a spoofed AnyDesk download site that will deliver an MSI installer hosted on Dropbox. Checks are also performed before redirection to the malicious site, with redirection not occurring if fingerprinting checks determine the request is originating from a virtual machine. Before the MSI download is initiated, another check is performed to test whether the request is coming from a virtual environment. On download, Pikabot uses an injector to run anti-analysis tests and will only decrypt and inject the core module payload if these checks are passed, otherwise, execution is aborted.

The use of malvertising in malware campaigns is increasing and this initial access vector is often successful as most security awareness training programs concentrate on phishing. It is important to ensure that malvertising is covered in security awareness training sessions and that employees are told about the risks of downloading software and are made aware of the checks they should perform to make sure the source of the software is legitimate.

Businesses can further protect themselves against malware distribution via the internet with a DNS filter. The WebTitan DNS filter can be used to control the web pages that can be accessed by employees. Access can be restricted to whitelisted sites, and websites can be easily blocked by category. WebTitan is constantly updated by multiple threat intelligence feeds and will block access to all URLs known to be used for malware distribution. While this malvertising campaign involves many checks to determine if a web filter is accessing the content, which may result in the content being accessible, WebTitan can be configured to block the downloading of certain files from the Internet, including executable files such as MSI files. Not only will this help to prevent malware downloads, it will also allow IT teams to curb shadow IT – unauthorized software downloads by employees – which are a security risk.

The WebTitan DNS Filter and the SafeTitan Security Awareness Training Platform are both available on a free trial and product demonstrations can be arranged on request. For further information give the TitanHQ team a call.

AI will Fuel Rise in Ransomware and Phishing Attacks

by Jennifer Marsh | Jan 26, 2024 | Phishing & Email Spam |

Ransomware attacks hit record levels in 2023 and are set to increase further along with the phishing attacks that provide ransomware groups with initial access to business networks.

The ransomware remediation firm Coveware reports that ransomware groups are now much less likely to receive ransom payments, with only 29% of victims choosing to pay up to obtain the keys to decrypt their data and prevent their data from being added to data leak sites. At the start of 2019, 85% of victims of ransomware attacks paid the ransom.

There are several reasons for the fall in payments. First, businesses are better prepared and have incident response plans for attacks that minimize disruption and more effective backup strategies that allow them to restore data themselves. While they are unable to prevent the leaking of sensitive data if they choose not to pay the ransom, there is widespread mistrust that paying the ransom will actually prevent data from being leaked or sold.

Falling revenues from attacks mean ransomware actors need to increase the number of attacks they conduct in order to maintain their incomes. NCC Group reports an 84% increase in attacks between 2022 and 2023, and 2024 is likely to continue to see high numbers of attacks and the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has warned that ransomware attacks are likely to increase.

The NCSC predicts that by 2025, and perhaps sooner, generative AI and large language models will be extensively used by cybercriminals and will allow them to craft phishing and spear phishing emails and develop new social engineering tactics to conduct more effective phishing campaigns. Since phishing is one of the most common initial access vectors in ransomware attacks, the NCSC predicts that AI will contribute to the global ransomware threat in the near term and other types of cybercrime that rely on phishing and social engineering.

The use of AI will make it more difficult for security professionals to identify and block phishing emails and social engineering attempts and it will be much harder for end users to differentiate between genuine emails and AI-generated phishing attempts. Generative AI tools also lower the barrier for would-be cybercriminals looking to conduct phishing and ransomware attacks, allowing novice and less skilled threat actors to conduct attacks successfully. This has already been the case with ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS), and generative AI-as-a-service may also start to be offered. Generative AI tools are also allowing threat actors to process and analyze the data stolen in these attacks more efficiently.

“Threat actors, including ransomware actors, are already using AI to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of aspects of cyber operations, such as reconnaissance, phishing, and coding,” explained NCSC. “Enhanced access will likely contribute to the global ransomware threat over the next two years.”

The NCSC paints a bleak picture but while AI tools can be used for offensive purposes, they can also be used by network defenders. TitanHQ’s cybersecurity solutions already use AI and machine learning tools for identifying phishing and other email threats. These tools are able to identify novel phishing threats, including those that are created using generative AI tools.

If you want to improve your defenses against malicious use of AI, speak with TitanHQ about how you can add advanced AI-driven detection capabilities to your cybersecurity arsenal and better defend your networks and data from increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks.

Important Information About Quishing – Phishing Attacks Using QR Codes

by Jennifer Marsh | Jan 25, 2024 | Phishing & Email Spam |

QR codes are a convenient way of transmitting information, especially URLs. They can be scanned with a smartphone and direct the user to a website. They are on flyers, posters, and other marketing material to quickly direct users to a website to find out more information, greatly improving the response to marketing campaigns. Use of these codes has grown and they are now found everywhere, even in restaurants to direct diners to menus. Unfortunately, QR codes are also perfect for scammers for stealing sensitive information and distributing malware, and QR codes are now being extensively used in phishing campaigns (quishing) in place of embedded URLs. The advantage of this is that they make it hard for users to check the destination of the URL before clicking and email security solutions are now designed to follow QR codes. According to Check Point, there was a 587% increase in QR code phishing attacks between August and September 2023 and recently detected 20,000 instances of QR code-based attacks over a 2-week period.

Campaigns have recently been detected that incorporate conditional redirection based on the user’s device, browser, screen size, and many other parameters, tailoring each attack to the individual via the same QR code. In one of these campaigns, users were directed to a credential harvesting page, with the redirection chain adjusted based on the fingerprinting of the user’s device. Similar campaigns are conducted to direct users to malware distribution sites. QR codes have also been used to direct users to deep fake YouTube videos, where celebrities appear to be endorsing investment schemes, usually related to cryptocurrency, where people are tricked into investing with a promise that they can rapidly double their money or get even better returns.

Email security solutions are designed to assess messages for phishing content, check embedded URLs to determine if they link to malicious websites, and scan email attachments to check for malware, but they are not suited to checking QR codes to determine where the user will be directed. Further, QR codes move the threat to a different device. QR code phishing emails are likely to be received on a company-owned laptop or PC, but the user is then required to switch to their mobile phone to scan the QR code, and mobile devices typically lack the same level of protection making it more likely that the attack will go undetected.

The best defense against these attacks is user education. Security awareness training should cover quishing to make employees aware of this increasingly popular tactic and the threat that QR codes pose. With SafeTitan it is easy to add new training content to your security awareness training programs and push out these training modules to all users. When any new threat is detected, you can add educational content to your training program and push that content out to all users, user groups, or individuals. All training modules last a maximum of 10 minutes, so they are easy to fit into busy workflows.  SafeTitan also includes a phishing simulator that allows you to send out fake quishing emails to the workforce to see who opens the emails and responds.

For further information on security awareness training with SafeTitan and how you can improve your defenses against all types of cyberattacks, give the TitanHQ team a call.

Callback Phishing Campaign Warns of Imminent Charge for Antivirus Subscription

by Jennifer Marsh | Jan 16, 2024 | Phishing & Email Spam |

Phishing is the fraudulent practice of sending messages, typically emails, that trick the recipient into doing something that they normally would not do, such as disclosing sensitive information or installing malware on their device. Phishers often include a link to a website that spoofs a well-known brand and victims are tricked into disclosing sensitive data or malicious files are attached to emails. Email security solutions are now much better at detecting malicious hyperlinks, and advanced email security solutions such as SpamTitan Plus can detect all known malware and have email sandboxing for behavioral analysis of suspicious emails to identify and block zero-day malware threats.

Cybercriminals Turn to Callback Phishing to Evade Cybersecurity Solutions

The first goal of a phishing attack is to get a message, be that an email, SMS, or instant message to an end user, and one of the ways that this is achieved is by sending emails with no malicious content – no hyperlinks or email attachments. Instead, the messages have a realistic call to action that requires immediate attention, and a phone number is provided in the email that the recipient must call to address the pressing problem that is outlined in the email. The phone line is manned by the threat actor who then talks the user through performing certain actions that provide remote access to their device.

Callback phishing typically involves an email warning the recipient about a charge for a product that is about to be taken, such as the expiry of a free trial or the end of a subscription term. The charge is excessive and the number provided in the email must be called to stop the charge. One such campaign that has recently been uncovered involves a fictitious charge for an antivirus subscription. In one of these attacks, the threat actor spoofs the antivirus software provider Norton. The email advises the recipient that the subscription period has come to an end and a charge for the next subscription period will be applied – $349.95. Naturally, such a high charge for a product would prompt many people to call the number to block it.

As with other callback phishing campaigns, the attacker tricks the recipient into downloading a program to their device that they are told is necessary to prevent the renewal of the subscription. The program gives the attacker remote access to the user’s device. Once access has been gained, the attacker can conduct a variety of nefarious activities.

Victim Transferred $34,000 to Attacker’s Account

In one of these scams, after access was gained to a victim’s device, the attacker transferred $34,000 from the user’s account. After providing the attacker with remote access to their laptop, the victim was instructed to perform other actions, one of which was entering their credentials into a phishing page. The victim was told that the payment for the antivirus software had already been taken, so a refund needed to be processed. The attacker then told the victim that an error had been made and a refund of $34,000 had been deposited in his account and immediate action was required to correct the error to avoid legal trouble.

The attacker remained on the phone while the victim called his bank, and while the victim was on the phone, the attacker transferred $34,000 from the victim’s Money Market account to his checking account. When the victim saw the $34,000 deposit, he assumed it to be the refund from Norton, and arranged the transfer to the bank account provided by the attacker. The attacker told the victim that in order not to arouse suspicion at the bank, he should inform the bank that the payment was for a vehicle. The victim was unable to see the malicious activity as the attacker had overlayed a blue screen on his laptop.

In this case, suspicions were raised and the funds were put into a suspense account at the recipient bank. U.S. Secret Service Special Agent Iris Joliff was able to obtain a seizure warrant from a judge allowing the money to be recovered; however, scams such as these are often only detected when the transferred funds have been withdrawn from the attacker-controlled account.

Improve Resilience to Callback Phishing with SafeTitan

Email security solutions may be effective at blocking malicious attachments and hyperlinks in emails, but they can rarely identify callback phishing scams as it is difficult to determine if a phone number is malicious. The most effective way that businesses can combat callback phishing is through security awareness training. Callback phishing should be covered in security awareness training sessions and also added to phishing simulation campaigns, to test whether the training has been understood and is being applied. SafeTitan from TitanHQ makes this easy, as callback phishing modules can easily be added to training courses and SafeTitan also includes a phishing simulator with phishing templates to test resilience to callback phishing and identify individuals who require further training in this area.

For further information on the SafeTitan platform and advice on how to further improve your defenses against phishing, give the TitanHQ team a call.

New Callback Phishing Campaign uses Google Forms for Initial Contact

by Jennifer Marsh | Dec 23, 2023 | Phishing & Email Spam |

A new callback phishing campaign has been detected that uses Google Forms to add credibility to the campaign. Callback phishing involves sending an email and tricking the recipient into calling a customer service helpline, where they are convinced to download software that provides the attacker with remote access to their device. Since the emails contain no malicious content, only a phone number, these emails are usually delivered to inboxes.

A typical campaign involves an email about an impending charge for a subscription for software or a service, payment for which is about to be taken shortly. The user is told that they must respond within 24 hours if they have any dispute and that the subscription will auto-renew if no action is taken. Companies typically impersonated in these attacks include Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Masterclass, McAfee, Norton, and GeekSquad.

The impending charge is excessive, typically $50 to $500, and the only way to prevent the payment is to call the customer service number included in the email. Subscriptions for software, streaming platforms, and other services are often set to auto-renew by default, and many people end up paying for another term even if they have discontinued using that service. The lure is therefore plausible, and since the charge is excessive, the recipient is likely to make the call.

The phone number is manned by the threat actor who pretends to be customer support and helps the user block the charge; however, in order to do so, software must be downloaded onto the user’s device. The user is convinced to install the software, the threat actor appears to remove the offending software, and the payment issue is resolved; however, the threat actor has installed malware that provides access to the user’s device.

In late 2020/ early 2021, this method was used in BazarCall attacks, so named because they were conducted to deliver BazarLoader malware. The malware is used to download additional malware payloads to the user’s device, such as ransomware. A new version of this campaign has recently been detected that employs Google Forms to add legitimacy to the campaign. Google Forms is free to use and allows forms to be easily created for surveys and quizzes, which can be integrated with websites or shared. In the latest BazarCall campaign, Google Forms is used to create details of a fake transaction, complete with invoice number, payment method, payment date, and information about the product or service.

Google Forms includes the option for a response receipt in the settings, so when a form is completed, it is submitted to the entered email address – that of the target. Google sends the completed form from its own servers, which adds legitimacy to the campaign and increases the probability of the form reaching an inbox. Email security solutions trust the sender (noreply@google.com) and the messages contain no malware or phishing links, the email is guaranteed to be delivered. The form instructs the recipient to call the number within 24 hours if they have any dispute about the charge.

Google is aware of the campaign and is taking steps to improve detection and said that the campaign has so far been used for a small number of users; however, it is worthwhile updating your security awareness training to include this new method of attack. That is quick and easy to do and roll out with the SafeTitan security awareness training platform. SafeTitan also allows you to easily add this method of phishing to the phishing simulator, to see if your employees are likely to fall for callback phishing scams.

QakBot Malware Returns with Phishing Campaign Targeting Hospitality Sector

by Jennifer Marsh | Dec 18, 2023 | Phishing & Email Spam |

In the summer of 2023, a multinational law enforcement operation caused major disruption to the botnet and malware known as QakBot, aka Qbot & pinkslipbot. Now the malware is back and being used in a campaign targeting the hospitality industry.

QakBot was first detected in 2008 and was primarily a banking Trojan which was used to steal financial information from infected devices; however, the malware has evolved over the years and its capabilities have been significantly enhanced. Check Point researchers have described the malware as “a Swiss army knife” due to its extensive capabilities. QakBot can steal financial information, browser data, and has keylogging capabilities, allowing it to steal credentials and other sensitive information. Infected devices are added to a botnet that can be used for a range of nefarious activities, and the malware also serves as a downloader and can deliver other malicious payloads, including ransomware. QakBot has previously partnered with major ransomware groups including Egregor, REvil, Conti, and ALPHV/BlackCat.

At the time of the takedown, QakBot had been installed on more than 700,000 computers worldwide. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the August takedown was “the largest U.S.-led financial and technical disruption of a botnet infrastructure leveraged by cybercriminals to commit ransomware, financial fraud, and other cyber-enabled criminal activity.” The law enforcement operation resulted in access being gained to the botnet’s encryption keys that were used for malware communication The botnet was hijacked and a custom Windows DLL was pushed out to all infected devices, which terminated the malware and disabled the botnet. These takedowns are, unfortunately, only temporary. As was the case with the takedown of the Emotet botnet, the threat actors simply rebuild their infrastructure.

QakBot malware is primarily distributed via phishing emails and the first QakBot malware campaign since the takedown was detected on Monday. The latest campaign uses an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) themed lure, where an IRS employee is impersonated. As is common in these campaigns, there is little body text in the emails, apart from the IRS logo and contact information. The emails contain a PDF attachment called GuestListVegas.pdf, and the subject line is “clients information”.

The recipient is told that they cannot preview the PDF file and must download it; however, the file they download is an MSI installer that will launch QakBot in the memory. Microsoft confirmed that this version of QakBot has not been seen before. While this appears to only be a relatively small campaign, distribution is expected to be significantly ramped up. In addition to this method of distribution, the QakBot operators have previously used OneNote files, Office files with malicious macros, Windows shortcut files, ISO attachments, and other executables, some of which have been known to exploit unpatched vulnerabilities.

Defending against attacks requires a combination of measures to block the initial access vector, the most important of which are an advanced spam filter – such as SpamTitan – security awareness training, and phishing simulations. A spam filter will block the majority of malicious emails to reduce the number of threats that are delivered to inboxes. By providing ongoing security awareness training to the workforce, employees will learn how to recognize, avoid, and report potential threats. Phishing simulations are an important part of the training process and allow employees to be tested to determine whether they are applying their training. When a phishing simulation is failed it can be turned into a training opportunity. With the SafeTitan platform, training is automated and delivered in real-time in response to failed phishing simulations.

For more information on advanced spam filtering and workforce cybersecurity training, give the TitanHQ team a call.

Watch Out for Black Friday Phishing and Cyber Monday Scams!

by Jennifer Marsh | Nov 24, 2023 | Phishing & Email Spam |

You may be able to grab a bargain on Black Friday and Cyber Monday but you need to be extra vigilant for Black Friday phishing attacks and Cyber Monday scams. Cybercriminals are waiting to take advantage of unwary online shoppers on Black Friday and scams are rife throughout the holiday season.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are two of the busiest shopping days of the year. Many people take advantage of the deals on offer and delay major purchases to try to get a Black Friday or Cyber Monday bargain, and savvy shoppers get started on their Christmas shopping early and try to grab the best gifts while they are available, often at a sizeable discount. On Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and throughout the holiday season, cybercriminals are hard at work. It is the perfect time for them to fill their pockets before the Christmas break. There are huge numbers of people looking to make purchases online, and cybercriminals are more than happy to offer the bargains and special deals that they seek.

During this shopping frenzy, people who delay making a purchase often miss out due to limited product availability. That means it is the perfect time to conduct a phishing attack offering a high-value product at a rock-bottom price, as it is exactly what consumers are expecting and hoping to find. The whole retail event plays into cybercriminals’ hands. People are made to think that they need to act fast and make a quick purchase when what they need to do is stop and think about whether the offer being presented is really what it seems.

Last year, UK residents lost more than £10 million to cybercriminals over the festive shopping period, according to the UK National Cyber Security Centre, with each victim losing an average of £639 to scams between November 2022 and January 2023. This year, the outlook looks even bleaker due to the ease at which artificial intelligence can be used to create convincing scams. While phishing attempts, scam emails, and malicious websites often contain red flags that indicate all is not what it seems, those red flaws are often missing from AI-generated content. Cybercriminals are leveraging large language models, such as ChatGPT, to create convincing emails, scams, fake adverts, and fraudulent websites. The aim of these attacks is to get unsuspecting consumers to disclose their usernames and passwords, provide their credit card and bank details, make purchases for non-existent products, or download malware. AI allows cybercriminals to conduct these scams on an increasingly large scale.

Tips for Avoiding Black Friday Phishing Scams and Online Fraud

AI tools allow cybercriminals to generate phishing emails with perfect grammar and no spelling mistakes and even generate convincing lures targeted at specific groups of people, but the same social engineering techniques are used in these phishing attempts as human-generated phishing emails. With phishing attempts, there is a sense of urgency. Phishing emails have a call to action and only a limited time to respond and there will usually be a threat of negative consequences if prompt action is not taken. With Black Friday phishing scams, product scarcity or a special offer expiring are often how cybercriminals get urgent action to be taken, or there may be a threat of pending costs, charges, or account closures if the email is ignored. Another common ploy is to generate a security alert about unauthorized account access or a potentially fraudulent purchase that has been made, with immediate action required to block the charge or protect the account. Everyone needs to be extra vigilant during the holiday season and should carefully check the sender of the email and stop and think before taking any action suggested in an email.

With so many purchases being made at this time of year, it is the perfect time for phishing lures warning about unsuccessful deliveries. Most people will be expecting packages to be delivered over the next few days and weeks. If you are notified about a failed delivery attempt, make sure that the message has been sent from the domain of the company that claims not to be able to deliver the package. If the email claims to have been sent by FedEx, UPS, DPD, Yodel, or Evri, check it has been sent from the official domain used by that company and watch out for hyphenated domain names, spelling mistakes, and transposed letters.

While email scams are common, so are scams on social media platforms. Malicious advertisements are posted offering products that are never dispatched. According to the Federal Trade Commission, $2.7 billion has been lost in the United States to social media scams over the past 2 years. While there may be genuine offers on social media sites, any vendor should be carefully vetted before making a purchase through an advert and checked to make sure they are who they claim to be and that they are a reputable retailer. It is also far better to use a credit card for any purchases, as credit card companies offer much greater protection against fraud than banks do for debit cards.

While non-delivery scams are common, and credit card theft is rife, many Black Friday and Cyber Monday scams try to obtain access to accounts. In addition to being extra vigilant, it is important to ensure that accounts are properly protected, which means setting a strong, unique password for each account and ensuring multifactor authentication is enabled. If passwords are reused across multiple sites, if that password is obtained, all accounts that use the same password will be put at risk. Multifactor authentication will provide greater protection for accounts should passwords be guessed or otherwise obtained. A password alone is not sufficient to gain access to an account, as an additional form of authentication must be provided.