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5 IT Fraud Trends and How to Avoid Them

By December 10, 2020No Comments7 min read
IT Fraud Trends

Cybersecurity is becoming more important with time. Thus, it is a good idea to assess and learn about the new IT frauds. This will help you in protecting your business from the latest dangers. Cyber attacks can damage your business reputation. Due to this, you can lose a lot of clients and customers. Also, you can lose access to your valuable data. You also need to deal with compliance violations. In this article, we are going to talk about the latest IT fraud trends.

  1. Account Takeover attacks

Most people are using the internet for doing their work. Due to this, the value of digital accounts has increased with time. Cybercriminals have already noted this down. Account takeover attacks are probably the oldest type of hacking attack. However, account takeover methods have increased with time.

This is becoming a big headache for organizations. Organizations are spending millions of dollars on preventing transaction and chargeback IT frauds. However, they are still not taking account takeover seriously.

This is a perfect opportunity for fraudsters. They are using complex tools for attacking organizations. Most attackers are using scrape tools for conducting ATOs. It will help them in accessing all your website data. They can also access the login information of your employees. Also, they can use bypass two-factor authentication. Thus, even MFA can’t protect your website from fraudsters.

According to a report from the NY Times, even MFA authentication can be bypassed by phishing attacks. Attackers can combine this with powerful malware like ransomware.

  1. Phishing

Phishing is always a headache for businesses. Organizations are losing their data without giving away any credentials. The phishing techniques are becoming more complex with time. Attackers recently used audio deep fakes for tricking an executing into writing a cheque worth $240,000. This cheque was issued for a supplier that doesn’t even exist.

Also, recently attackers targeted Office 365 users. They used a complex phishing attack for accessing the data that was stored in the MS Office 365. Attackers send a malicious link to employees which redirected them to a fake login page.

If your employees take the bait, then they will give indefinite access to your cloud data to attackers. Attackers can access their emails, contacts, and files. Also, they will have access to their emails even if your employees change their passwords.

DDoS attacks are also becoming popular with time. However, more than 35% of the security breaches start with phishing. You can also add social engineering in phishing attacks. Social engineering attacks are also considered as a different form of phishing.

Fraudsters are always looking for bold phishing techniques. Many attackers are collecting different phone numbers. They use these phone numbers for SIM jacking. Thus, this can result in multiple ATO. Due to the remote workforce, it is easy to target business data.

  1. Ransomware

Ransomware is probably the biggest headache for businesses. Every business owner wants to protect its business from ransomware. Attackers recently targeted some cities in Florida. These cities paid millions of dollars to attackers as they have lost access to their email and phone systems. If you want to understand the impact of the ransomware attack, then you can check any security news website. They are always filled up with ransomware news. These attacks will always come down to simple economics. You should try to protect your data before an attack even happens. This will ensure that you can recover your data in case of a ransomware attack.

  1. BEC or Business Email Compromise

BEC is considered a very complex and sophisticated scam or IT fraud. Attackers can use it for targeting companies that are processing a request for fund transfers. Attackers will simply compromise any email account. They can use intrusion tactics or phishing for gaining access to these email accounts. After that, they will request for immediate transfer of demands.

These requests will come from verified and familiar accounts. Thus, most providers won’t check this request. They will directly process their attack. Due to this, BEC is considered the most effective scam. Companies have lost more than $26 billion due to this attack.

  1. Dark Web

According to a report from security researchers, more than 23 million CC and debit card details were available on the dark web. More than 64% of these cards were from the United States. Also, more than 7% of these cards belong to UK residents. These data dumps are considered a gold mine for attackers. Attackers will easily exchange this information for a few dollars. They can use these cards for orchestrating their IT fraud schemes.

Cyber Security Tips:

  1. You should always take regular backup of your data. Also, it is important to regularly test this backup. This will ensure that your backup will actually work during a security breach. In case of a data disaster, you can recover your data. Thus, you don’t need to worry about ransomware attacks.
  2. You should enable MFA for protecting your data. It is not impossible to crack into companies that are using MFA. However, it will still help you in stopping most of the attacks. You should also enforce a good password policy. This will ensure that attackers can’t use a simple brute force attack for attacking your network.
  3. You should also install a good spam-filtering solution and anti-malware software. This will help you in stopping most of the attacks. Make sure that these security solutions come with anti-phishing capability.
  4. You should work on building an IRP. This plan will ensure that you can actually respond to a cyber attack. You can use this plan if you are hit by a cyber attack.
  5. You should look for a good SMB security suite. These security suites will come with Dark Web monitoring. Thus, you can keep an eye on the dark web.
  6. You should partner up with an experienced MSP. Experienced MSPs like Bleuwire can help you in training your employees. They will also help you in implementing all the above points. Thus, you should consider working with a good MSP.

Conclusion

These are some tips that will help you in protecting your business from the latest security trends. Make sure that you are upgrading your security plan in 2021. The best way to do this is by working with a good MSP. Experienced MSPs like Bleuwire can help you in implementing the best security solution. Thus, you don’t need to worry about cyber attacks or IT frauds. If you need more information regarding IT security services, then you can contact Bleuwire.

Contact us today to learn about Bleuwire™  services and solutions in how we can help your business.