MailGuard Blog

The worlds of politics and cybercrime collided in 2016 when Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign HQ was infiltrated by hackers. The incident led to the exposure of thousands of sensitive private documents, a storm of controversy and potentially, the disruption of the US democratic process.

In the last two years, 45% of Australian companies were attacked by online criminals.

When hackers set about breaking into a company’s computers, they start with phishing emails. Their objective is to get one person inside their target company to click a link to a fake website they’ve set up and enter their email password.

There has been a 2500% increase in the sale of cybercrime kits on the dark-web since 2016, said Angus Taylor MP, Australian Minister for Law Enforcement and Cyber Security in a recent interview.
Taylor expressed his concern about this surge in online criminal activity. He noted that there has been “a high take-up of digital technologies” by Australian companies, but about 30% of smaller companies have inadequate cybersecurity measures in place. 

This week the SMH reported the story of the small business owner who lost AU$10,000 in an email fraud attack.

“Small business owner Phoebe Bell believes scammers were watching her emails "for months" before they swiped $10,000 from her homewares operation, Sage & Clare,” the SMH reports.

Claire, an intern at a small legal firm, sits down at her desk after getting back from a hasty, late lunch. She gulps her coffee and flicks open her email inbox: 37 new messages. She rubs her temples and begins to work her way through the backlog that piled up during her 15-minute lunch break.

The FBI warned US banks last week that they are expecting a large-scale fraud attack involving compromised ATM cash machines in the near future.

“Cyber criminals are planning to conduct a global Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cash-out scheme in the coming days,” the FBI advised banks in a confidential message revealed by the KOS blog, Aug 12.

When you consider how central email is to daily business operations, it’s not surprising, that it’s become the most damaging weapon in the cybercrime arsenal.
Every business still relies on email to do the majority of their daily communication. Everything from stationery orders to corporate mergers is organised and negotiated through the humble inbox.

The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has just announced a new division specifically to handle cyber threats against critical infrastructure. The National Risk Management Center will manage cross-sector responses to cyber-threats against vital US assets like the recently exposed attacks against the US power grid.

In the lexicon of online security there are cybercriminals, black hat hackers (hackers who do crime), white hat hackers (hackers who help prevent cyber-attacks), hacktivists (hackers who use their skills for political causes) and then there are “bug bounty hunters.”

A July 13 Washington Post  article reported the indictment of 12 Russians accused of hacking the US Democratic Party in 2016.

The indictment documentation includes detailed information about the process the accused Russian hackers allegedly used to gain access to Democratic Party email accounts and networks.

“As a small business, we find it challenging to identify threats and have measures in place to mitigate them with very limited time/resource.”

“I find the board’s posture is too relaxed, suggesting lack of acute awareness of the real risks.”

“Lack of concern and awareness around the risk and consequence. Directors and management are more concerned about accessibility than protection (until an event occurs, that is...)”

GDPR - the EU General Data Protection Regulation - is now in effect. The regulations are designed to protect the data privacy of EU residents, but because the rules affect any company handling EU data, the true influence of the GDPR is international in scope.

Dear admired friend,

It is my solemn duty to inform you of the passing of your distant relative Mr Mohammed Abacha, a respected member of the Nigerian aristocracy.

Two Nigerian scammers operating out of London UK are now serving jail time over a £1 million+ phishing operation. 

According to UK investigators the jailed men, Emmanuel Mmaduike and Olawale Kashimawo (pictured above), headed a well-organised cybercrime syndicate specialising in email fraud.