Targeted Phishing (Spear Phishing)

 Targeted phishing, also known as spear phishing, is a sophisticated type of phishing attack where cybercriminals aim their malicious efforts at specific individuals or organizations. Unlike general phishing, which involves sending mass emails to a wide audience, targeted phishing involves carefully crafted messages designed to deceive particular recipients.

 Key Characteristics of Targeted Phishing:

  1.  Personalization: Spear phishing emails often include personal information about the recipient, such as their name, job title, or recent activities, making the email appear legitimate and relevant.
  2. Research: Attackers conduct thorough research on their targets, gathering details from social media, company websites, and other publicly available sources to tailor their messages.
  3. Trust Exploitation: The emails often appear to come from a trusted source, such as a colleague, manager, or a known business partner, increasing the likelihood that the recipient will engage with the content.
  4. Specific Objectives: The goal of targeted phishing can vary, but it usually aims to steal sensitive information, such as login credentials, financial data, or proprietary information. In some cases, the objective might be to install malware or ransomware on the target’s system.
  5. Sophisticated Techniques: These attacks often use advanced social engineering techniques to manipulate the recipient into taking a specific action, such as clicking on a link, downloading an attachment, or providing confidential information.

 

How to Protect Against Targeted Phishing:

 

  • Verify Senders: Always verify the sender’s email address and be cautious with emails that seem out of the ordinary, even if they appear to come from someone you know.
  • Educate Employees: Regular training on recognizing and responding to phishing attempts can help employees stay vigilant.
  • Use Security Software: Employ advanced security solutions, including email filtering, anti-malware, and endpoint protection.
  • Implement Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): MFA adds an extra layer of security, making it more difficult for attackers to gain access to accounts even if they obtain login credentials.
  • Report Suspicious Emails: Encourage employees to report any suspicious emails to your IT or security team immediately.

 By understanding and recognizing targeted phishing attempts, you can take proactive measures to protect yourself and your organization from these sophisticated cyber threats.

Learn more about staying safe, click the image below, schedule a technology strategy session or call us.

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Password Policy and Secure backup are critical

Good password posture and secure backup hygien are two important components,  the third pillar of not getting phished is clean routine updates and the fourth pillar is regular routine audits.

TSI Password Manager secures your new password records are input to the internet browser on your computer. From there they are protected in transit by 2048-bit RSA keys, and at rest using over 300 different rounds of 256-bit symmetric encryption, with six different randomly generated keys. Your unique encryption key (organization key) is the final step in unencrypting your data for view within the browser.

Easy as 1,2,3.

Security problem or need system support?

If you have:

  • a security problem,
  • technology question,
  • configuration issue,
  • had a network intrusion, malware or
  • item place in quarantine,

call the Tekuser Service Desk at (336) 373-110(5).

Or submit a request by clicking the get help button below.

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ORGANIZATION KEY

Two of the encryption keys used are unique to each password record, and one of the encryption keys called the Organization key is created and stored only on the server side. This encryption key is never stored or maintained anywhere except within the TSI Password Manager infrastructure.

PASSWORD AND

PASSPHRASE TRANSMISSION

All inbound and outbound data communication traffic with the TSI Password Management happens over TLS

1.2 using 2048-bit RSA keys to ensure the protection of your data in transit.

WEB APPLICATION FIREWALL PROXY

Unique encryption keys are retrieved from numerous sources for each password.

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