Tag Archives: phishing

The Year Targeted Phishing Went Mainstream

August 2, 2018
43 Comments

A story published here on July 12 about a new sextortion-based phishing scheme that invokes a real password used by each recipient has become the most-read piece on KrebsOnSecurity since this site launched in 2009. And with good reason — sex sells (the second most-read piece here was my 2015 scoop about the Ashley Madison hack).

But beneath the lurid allure of both stories lies a more unsettling reality: It has never been easier for scam artists to launch convincing, targeted phishing and extortion scams that are automated on a global scale. And given the sheer volume of hacked and stolen personal data now available online, it seems almost certain we will soon witness many variations on these phishing campaigns that leverage customized data elements to enhance their effectiveness.

Look-Alike Domains and Visual Confusion

March 8, 2018
104 Comments

How good are you at telling the difference between domain names you know and trust and imposter or look-alike domains? The answer may depend on how familiar you are with the nuances of internationalized domain names (IDNs), as well as which browser or Web application you’re using.

For example, how does your browser interpret the following domain? I’ll give you a hint: Despite appearances, it is most certainly not the actual domain for software firm CA Technologies (formerly Computer Associates Intl Inc.), which owns the original ca.com domain name:

https://www.са.com/

Go ahead and click on the link above or cut-and-paste it into a browser address bar. If you’re using Google Chrome, Apple’s Safari, or some recent version of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer or Edge browsers, you should notice that the address converts to “xn--80a7a.com.” This is called “punycode,” and it allows browsers to render domains with non-Latin alphabets like Cyrillic and Ukrainian.

Below is what it looks like in Edge on Windows 10; Google Chrome renders it much the same way. Notice what’s in the address bar (ignore the “fake site” and “Welcome to…” text, which was added as a courtesy by the person who registered this domain):

Phishing 101 at the School of Hard Knocks

March 24, 2017
48 Comments

A recent, massive spike in sophisticated and successful phishing attacks is prompting many universities to speed up timetables for deploying mandatory two-factor authentication (2FA) — requiring a one-time code in addition to a password — for access to student and faculty services online. This is the story of one university that accelerated plans to require 2FA after witnessing nearly twice as many phishing victims in the first two-and-half months of this year than it saw in all of 2015.

Washington Post Site Hacked After Successful Phishing Campaign

August 15, 2013
25 Comments

The Washington Post acknowledged today that a sophisticated phishing attack against its newsroom reporters led to the hacking of its Web site, which was seeded with code that redirected readers to the Web site of the Syrian Electronic Army hacker group. According to information obtained by KrebsOnSecurity, the hack began with a phishing campaign launched over the weekend that ultimately hooked one of the paper’s lead sports writers.

IRS Scam: Phishing by Fax

March 29, 2011
12 Comments

Scammers typically kick into high gear during tax season in the United States, which tends to bring with it a spike in phishing attacks that spoof the Internal Revenue Service. Take, for example, a new scam making the rounds via email, which warns of discrepancies on the recipient’s income tax return and requests that personal information be sent via fax to a toll-free number.

A Spike in Phone Phishing Attacks?

June 20, 2010
33 Comments

A couple of readers have written in to say they recently received scam telephone calls warning them about fraud on their credit card accounts and directing them to call a phone number to “verify” their credit card numbers.

These sometimes-automated attacks prompt people to call a supplied telephone number — often a toll-free line. In most cases, the calls will be answered by bogus interactive voice response system designed to coax account credentials and other personal information from the caller.

Teach a Man to Phish…

May 17, 2010
13 Comments

Phishing may not be the most sophisticated form of cyber crime, but it can be a lucrative trade for those who decide to make it their day jobs. Indeed, data secretly collected from an international phishing operation over the last 18 months suggests that criminals who pursue a career in phishing can steal millions of dollars a year, even if they only manage to snag just a few victims per scam.