The rise of malicious attacks on systems has been a matter of concern for a long time. Moreover, advanced techniques of phishing are even making experienced tech-savvies falling into the traps of cybercriminals. Technology is getting advanced over time, and it comes with some security concerns as well.
Do you want to stay safe from such nuisances and save your sensitive data? Then, it is time to take a look at some of the advanced phishing techniques or cyber-attacks that you need to stay safe from.
Some Advanced Phishing Techniques you need to Stay Safe from
Inexpensive Products & Services:
Nowadays, many cyber criminals make use of search engines to make innocent users fall into their trap by directing them to various websites that more likely offer low-priced services or products.
Upon surfing such websites, many users get attracted by the price tags of the offerings and show their interest in purchasing them. And that is where the users fall into the trap of the criminals, as they are instructed to fill in the credit card information for buying their favorite products or services.
That is why you must stay conscious when it comes to showing interest in unbelievably low-cost products or services. First, verify the website and then decide about what to do next!
Contextual Scams:
Popular events always gain a lot of attention from fans and enthusiasts. And cybercriminals try to take advantage of such enthusiasm and excitement of innocent people. They keep on planning and plotting different contextual scams.
For instance, cybercriminals send out fake emails to people about providing free tickets for an event. Showing interest in such an email can lead to the loss of sensitive data, which can end up making a huge financial loss.
Did you know some cybercriminals planned to make use of the enthusiasm of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics? This cyberattack was all about sending out fake emails to the event enthusiasts to make them fall into a trap by offering tickets at zero cost.
The first target of cybercriminals to spread fraudulent messages is social media platforms, as a large number of people remain active here. However, fraudsters also send emails to people about fake ticket offers.
In present times, such messages are getting viral, and more and more people are falling prey to such scams. Note that criminals can take any object to craft the free ticket fraud, such as concerts, flights, resorts, hotels to name a few.
Upon showing interest, the users are presented with a “Get Tickets” button. Clicking on it can lead to severe consequences. Obviously, no ticket would be there. Instead, malicious software can get installed on the user’s system.
Or, the victim can get subscribed to a service without his/her knowledge. Malware can also get downloaded to the user’s device and leave it infected.
Money Mule Scams:
The term “money mule” is used to indicate innocent people, who have fallen into the trap of cybercriminals by allowing them to pass money via their bank accounts.
Obviously, criminals leverage this strategy for passing their illegal or stolen money. Therefore, you must be too careful about such incidents. Showing interest in the proposal of cybercriminals can lead you to massive trouble.
In the first step of this fraudulent activity, cybercriminals get in touch with customers through various modes, such as blogs, emails, job websites, and so on.
Next, these criminals try to convince innocent customers to allow them to send money to their bank accounts. In return, criminals offer heavy commissions to the customers. If someone gets convinced.
Next, the criminal directs the money mule to transfer the received money to another account (i.e. another money mule). That means a chain of money mules is created to eventually receive the money to the criminal’s account. Note that upon reporting such fraudulent activity, the money mule (the person, who receives the money), can get into trouble. Now, you can realize the severity of the entire occurrence.
Loyalty Points Phishing Scams:
You must have heard about loyalty programs of various brands. Maybe you are also a member of one or two loyalty programs. But, do you know about loyalty points phishing scams? Actually, many loyalty accounts of customers are not tightly secured. And so, such unsecured accounts get attracted by cybercriminals.
Such fraudsters employ phishing attacks to obtain the loyalty account information of customers of a particular brand. Upon the successful attack, criminals get access to the account and even sensitive data sometimes (if stored), such as credit card information.
Wire-Embedded Malware:
Maybe you have heard about malware attacks so many times, but have you heard about wire-embedded malware?
A strategy was developed many years ago, called the “rubber ducky”, which was considered a flourishing threat. In short, the rubber ducky comes as a USB drive that gets recognized as a virtual keyboard by systems. The rubber ducky spreads malicious code into the system to which it gets plugged.
Nowadays, many cybercriminals have started attacking USB dongles. They inject malicious code into the wire to spread malware to the device. For instance, “USB Ninja” is a strategy in this regard.
Checkm8 & Checkra1n:
Do you think your iPhone is safe as long as it is encrypted or locked? The iPhone is safe as long as it is with you, but what if it gets lost? Checkm8 appears to be an iPhone chip vulnerability.
This vulnerability is there at the maximum of the iPhone 11 Pro. To access the device, cybercriminals download Checkra1n for jailbreaking Checkm8 on a stolen or lost iPhone. The Checkra1n works for locked iPhones as well.
That is why detecting and safeguarding iPhones are a must against such exploits. Otherwise, the personal and confidential information of users can get accessed by criminals.
DNS over HTTPS Malware:
A DNS request is about posing a request for information to a DNS server from a DNS client. Did you know DNS requests comprise the domain name the user is requesting and the IP address of the user? DNS requests can be accessed by cybercriminals after which they can respond to the user’s request with a spoofed website.
It is significant to encrypt a DNS request’s contents using HTTP. DNS over HTTPS or DoH performs the action to keep the chance of unauthorized access at bay. Unfortunately, cybercriminals are using DoH for encrypting malware DNS requests.
Wrapping Up
Cybercriminals are striving hard to access more and more systems to steal confidential data with their sophisticated techniques. Such criminals extend their traps and broaden their networks by adopting newer techniques. So, you must take needful preventive measures to protect your system and sensitive information.
