Security Market Segment LS
Friday, 10 March 2017 09:57

SMS phishing on the up, says cyber security firm

By

First via email, and now by the invasion of your mobile phone, phishing has gone SMS and is one of the next major attack vectors.

Statistics portal Statista reports that mobile phone use in Australia will grow to 19.4 million handsets in 2017. But there are no commercially available SMS inbound filtering products as there are for email. Cyber criminals are using stolen mobile phones and their SIMs to send the messages free.

Proofpoint has discovered a raft of cyber scams sending socially engineered SMS messages to trick users. The gap in defences is increased as the smaller mobile screens make it difficult to determine if URLs and websites are fake or legitimate. 

Proofpoint says SMS phishing has evolved from a single SMS bearing a dodgy URL to load malware, to a sophisticated two- or three-stage system to collect the victim’s phone number, zip code, email address, email password, credit card information and (in the US) their social security number.

Even if recipients become suspicious, attackers already have an active (tested) phone number and access to an associated email account. This may be enough information to port the phone number away from the original provider and take control of a victim's online identity. In many cases, recipients will also enter credit card data and social security numbers, allowing the attackers to immediately engage in financial fraud and identity theft as well.

The scam goes like this (US Bank example used)

First SMS offers simple one click fix. It also proves your phone number is active and is good for more SMS phishing.

PP1 N

 

Second SMS - Whoops that did not work. Go to the website. This just strengthens your resolve.

 

PP2 N

 

Website looks OK and they are not asking for you password etc, just to verify who you are. They get your phone number and zip/postcode.

PPP 3

 

PPP 4

Now they have your email address (works for Gmail, Yahoo! and more)

 PPP 5

 

Read 4543 times

Please join our community here and become a VIP.

Subscribe to ITWIRE UPDATE Newsletter here
JOIN our iTWireTV our YouTube Community here
BACK TO LATEST NEWS here




ELASTICON SYDNEY 2024 LATEST ADVANCEMENTS IN GENERATIVE AI

On 20 February, keynote addresses from NAB, Canva, AWS, and Google Cloud, among others, will feature at ElasticON Sydney 2024.

This event will explore the latest advancements in generative AI

The one-day conference, hosted by leading search analytics company Elastic, will include networking drinks, hands-on labs, technical sessions and a stellar line-up of keynote speakers from finance, technology, and government e=sectors.

ElasticON Sydney 2024 promises to be an enriching experience with a comprehensive exploration of the latest developments in security, observability, generative AI and their real world applications

Don't miss out on this opportunity to network and find answers for what's next from your industry peers and leaders


Register for ElasticON Sydney 2024

REGISTER HERE!

PROMOTE YOUR WEBINAR ON ITWIRE

It's all about Webinars.

Marketing budgets are now focused on Webinars combined with Lead Generation.

If you wish to promote a Webinar we recommend at least a 3 to 4 week campaign prior to your event.

The iTWire campaign will include extensive adverts on our News Site itwire.com and prominent Newsletter promotion https://itwire.com/itwire-update.html and Promotional News & Editorial. Plus a video interview of the key speaker on iTWire TV https://www.youtube.com/c/iTWireTV/videos which will be used in Promotional Posts on the iTWire Home Page.

Now we are coming out of Lockdown iTWire will be focussed to assisting with your webinars and campaigns and assistance via part payments and extended terms, a Webinar Business Booster Pack and other supportive programs. We can also create your adverts and written content plus coordinate your video interview.

We look forward to discussing your campaign goals with you. Please click the button below.

MORE INFO HERE!

BACK TO HOME PAGE
Ray Shaw

joomla stats

Ray Shaw ray@im.com.au  has a passion for IT ever since building his first computer in 1980. He is a qualified journalist, hosted a consumer IT based radio program on ABC radio for 10 years, has developed world leading software for the events industry and is smart enough to no longer own a retail computer store!

Share News tips for the iTWire Journalists? Your tip will be anonymous

Subscribe to Newsletter

*  Enter the security code shown:

WEBINARS & EVENTS

CYBERSECURITY

PEOPLE MOVES

GUEST ARTICLES

Guest Opinion

ITWIRETV & INTERVIEWS

RESEARCH & CASE STUDIES

Channel News

Comments