‘Growing risk’ to businesses from cyber criminal which target social media

Businesses face substantial risks to their finances and data as cyber criminals target social media and company websites to access sensitive information used in attacks, new research has found. 

Social engineering where employees are manipulated into providing valuable information to fraudsters is becoming more prevalent in business.

“Even firms with state-of-the-art computer systems and software are being caught out by criminals targeting a staff member who has given away too much personal information on social media.

"Criminals use information from social media to craft bespoke phishing emails which show a very convincing understanding of the staff member’s life and habits.

“In these situations, staff members are often caught out, either directly by giving away company secrets or transferring money to criminals, or indirectly by clicking on links which allows hackers access to the company network.

“Our research shows that company boards need to rank these ‘human factor’ risks much higher, as they are often relying on technical countermeasures alone,” said Digitalis Reputation chief executive Dave King.

According to Digitalis, real-life examples of the kind of oversharing on social media that can lead to social engineering attacks include:

• A chief executive who posted his birthday and mother’s maiden name on Facebook, then used to initiate an identity theft.
• A businessman whose teen daughter inadvertently accepted friend requests from an investigator employed by a competitor.

Michael Gubbins, head of the Garda Computer Crime Investigations Unit, will address SMEs at a cyber security seminar hosted by Infosecurity Ireland in Dublin on April 13.