Phishing

In cybersecurity, phishing is a social engineering attack where attackers attempt to deceive individuals into revealing sensitive information or taking actions that benefit the attacker.

Here's a breakdown of the key elements:

• Deception: Phishing attacks trick victims into believing they interact with a legitimate entity or person. Attackers often masquerade as:

  • Trusted organizations (e.g., banks, government agencies, popular companies)

  • Colleagues or superiors

  • Friends or family members

• Communication Channels: Phishing attacks can occur through various communication channels, including:

  • Email: This is the most common phishing vector.

  • Instant messaging

  • Social media

  • SMS messaging (Smishing)

  • Phone calls (Vishing)

• Objectives: The goals of phishing attacks can vary, but they often include:

  • Stealing credentials: Usernames and passwords for various online accounts.

  • Obtaining sensitive data: Personal information, financial details, or confidential business information.

  • Installing malware: Tricking victims into downloading or executing malicious software.

  • Financial fraud: Deceiving victims into transferring money or paying the attacker.

• Techniques: Phishing attacks employ various techniques to enhance their deception, such as:

  • Spoofing: Falsifying the sender's email address or website URL to appear legitimate.

  • Urgency and fear: Creating a sense of urgency or using threats to pressure victims into acting quickly without thinking.

  • Links to fake websites: Directing victims to fraudulent websites that mimic legitimate ones to steal information.

  • Attachments: Including malicious attachments that contain malware.

ThreatNG's Role in Preventing Phishing

ThreatNG provides capabilities that directly address the various aspects of phishing attacks:

• Deception:

  • ThreatNG helps organizations understand and counter the deception used in phishing attacks.

  • By assessing BEC & Phishing Susceptibility, ThreatNG analyzes factors contributing to the success of deceptive tactics, such as the likelihood of domain spoofing or compromised credentials that could be used to impersonate trusted entities.

  • ThreatNG also provides Domain Intelligence that includes Domain Name Permutations, which aids in identifying potential typo-squatting domains used for deceptive purposes.

• Communication Channels:

  • ThreatNG provides valuable insights and capabilities to address phishing across various communication channels.

  • For example, by assessing email security presence and format prediction, ThreatNG helps organizations understand their vulnerability to email-based phishing attacks.

• Objectives:

  • ThreatNG's capabilities help organizations protect against the various objectives of phishing attacks:

    • Stealing Credentials: ThreatNG monitors the dark web for compromised credentials, a primary objective of phishing. This allows organizations to identify and respond to exposed credentials before they can be used for account takeovers.

    • Obtaining Sensitive Data: By helping to prevent successful phishing attacks, ThreatNG reduces the risk of attackers obtaining sensitive data through deception.

    • Installing Malware: ThreatNG helps organizations reduce their vulnerability to phishing attacks that attempt to install malware. By assessing security vulnerabilities and misconfigurations, ThreatNG enables organizations to harden their systems against malware infections initiated through phishing.

    • Financial Fraud: ThreatNG's assessment of BEC & Phishing Susceptibility directly addresses the risk of financial fraud through Business Email Compromise, which relies heavily on phishing tactics.

• Techniques:

  • ThreatNG provides capabilities that help organizations defend against the techniques used in phishing attacks:

    • Spoofing: As mentioned earlier, ThreatNG’s Domain Intelligence and monitoring for domain name permutations helps identify potential spoofing attempts.

    • Urgency and Fear: While ThreatNG doesn’t directly counter the psychological manipulation of urgency and fear, its other capabilities help reduce the overall effectiveness of phishing attacks, regardless of the techniques used.

    • Links to Fake Websites: By helping to identify potential spoofing and typo-squatting, ThreatNG makes it easier for organizations and users to spot links to fake websites used in phishing attacks.

    • Attachments: By helping to prevent successful phishing attacks, ThreatNG reduces the likelihood of malicious attachments being delivered and executed.

How ThreatNG Helps - Highlighting Key Capabilities

• External Discovery: ThreatNG's external discovery allows organizations to see their systems as an attacker would, helping to identify potential phishing attack vectors.

• External Assessment: ThreatNG's BEC & Phishing Susceptibility assessment is central to its phishing defense capabilities.

• Reporting: ThreatNG provides reports that highlight phishing risks and vulnerabilities.

• Continuous Monitoring: ThreatNG's continuous monitoring helps organizations stay aware of emerging phishing threats and potential changes in their susceptibility.

• Investigation Modules: ThreatNG's investigation modules, particularly Domain Intelligence, provide valuable information for understanding and mitigating phishing risks.

• Intelligence Repositories: ThreatNG uses intelligence repositories that include data relevant to phishing, such as dark web activity and compromised credentials.

• Working with Complementary Solutions: ThreatNG works with other security solutions to provide a more comprehensive defense against phishing:

  • Security Awareness Training Platforms: ThreatNG's insights into phishing susceptibility can be used to tailor security awareness training programs.

  • Email Security Solutions: ThreatNG's domain and email intelligence can be integrated with email security solutions to improve phishing detection and prevention.