Gannett,which owns more than 100 Newspapers across the country has been hit by a sophisticated phishing attack. Bob Noel, Director of Marketing and Strategic Relationships at Plixer International commented below.
Bob Noel, Director of Marketing and Strategic Relationships at Plixer International:
“Hackers have become so proficient with phishing emails that they can fool even the savviest of tech users which proves that people are the weakest link in the security chain. As such, education should be a top priority, but in most organizations that is not the case. It appears that the breach at Gannet was pulled off after a hacker was able to compromise the Office 365 credentials of some HR employees. Once the hacker got control of actual employee email accounts, they were able to impersonate HR with what appeared to be a valid emails to Gannett employees (although in actuality they were themselves phishing attacks). The lesson learned here is if you unexpectedly receive a digital request to provide personal information, before hitting send, you should pick up the phone and verify with the sender the legitimacy of the request. The Cyber security team should be applauded for stopping the wire transfer of corporate funds mitigating the damages.”
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