Cyber Resilience

Cyber News and Threats – 12th July 2017

July 12, 2017 by bpcyber No Comments | Category Cyber Resilience, cyber threats and news

Here are some of the latest updates on cyber threats and news that we’ve picked up in the last couple of weeks, including the NCSC weekly update. All updates are open source and links given:

Scams follow widely reported attempt to compromise parliamentary email accounts

Following reported attempts by hackers to compromise parliamentary email accounts in June, scammers have recently attempted to gain information by cold-calling (or vishing) MPs and their staff. Posing as staff from the Houses of Parliament’s IT department, the scammers have reportedly been requesting the usernames and passwords of MPs. Vishing, like its online equivalent, phishing, attempts to illicit sensitive information, such as passwords, or encourage victims to visit particular (invariably malicious) websites.

Scammers try to capitalise on heightened public awareness of particular issues. Such social engineering techniques often increase in prevalence follow a high-profile incident. For example, following the WannaCry ransomware incident, there were several reported scams, including fake fixes for the malware, and malicious ‘tech support’ services. Phone calls can form part of a blended social engineering campaign, along with emails or social media contact. It is likely that scams such as these will continue to follow widely reported events.

For information on appropriate use of passwords, please see the NCSC guidance.

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