Cyber Tactics Responses

Provide (2) 150 words substantive response with a minimum of 1 APA references for RESPONSES 1 AND 2 below. Response provided should further discuss the subject or provide more insight. To further understand the response, below is the discussion post that’s discusses the responses. 100% original work and not plagiarized. Must meet deadline.

RESPONSE 1:

In 2014, Upsher-Smith Laboratories was targeted by cyber-criminals who employed a business email compromise phishing scam. The cyber-criminals successfully sent emails to the companys accounts payable department requesting several wire transfers in the amount of $39 million dollars. The emails appeared to originate from the businesss CEO. When the scam was eventually discovered, Upsher-Smith Laboratories took steps to stop all of the wire transfers but were only able to recall one of nine transfers. Had the last transfer been submitted, the cyber criminals would have netted $50 million dollars from Upsher-Smith Laboratories.  The attack was extremely successful, and the perpetrators of the attack were never identified. Upsher-Smith Laboratories appears to still be in ligation with its own bank whom they are suing for facilitating the transfer. This type of phishing attack is commonly known as Whaling or CEO Fraud. This type of attack targets CEOs and the information obtained from such an attack can be used to authorize fraudulent wire transfers to a financial institution of their choice or  conduct W-2 phishing in which they request W-2 information for all employees so that they can file fake tax returns on their behalf or post that data on the dark web. Effective countermeasures to mitigate the impact of such an attack include setting up a multifactor authentication system so that there is not a single point of failure with respect to wire transfers. Perhaps the most effective countermeasure is targeted employee and CEO training.

Phishing Case Studies: Learning From the Mistakes Of Others. Phising Protection. Accessed 26 May 2021

Bisson, David. 6 Common Phishing Attacks and How to Protect Against Them The State of Security. Accessed on 26 May 2021

-LAUREN

RESPONSE 2:

Phishing attacks have become very common with advancements in technology and cyber attacks. One phishing attack that was very successful is called the Pickachu virus. Pikachu virus was designed target younger generation of children by sending malicious links to anime Pikachu. The phishing attack was designed to damage the configuration files within computer and directory files once executed ( Kate Johanns June 30th 2017 ). The phishing email spread throughout all outlook and eventually infected millions of computers once executed like Worm. The pikachu virus was designed to be friendly for children but was infected with malicious intent to damage victim computer. 

The pikachu virus was very successful because it targeted less aware community by infecting their computers. The virus that spread though emails was classified as being low risk because after reboot it asked for permissions to effect the computer. The virus was considered to be worm that was attached to phishing email and was highly effective. Millions of users were infected and fell victim to this phishing email. The Pikachu virus would not take affect on victims computer until reboot and all configuration file would be deleted by Pikachu virus. The person that actually wrote the virus was never caught and still to this day is unknown. The best counter measures to Blocking this attack would have been update anti virus and essential user training to younger generation to avoid this type attack. It’s important for younger generation to understand the dangers of the internet and how it works. 

Kate Johanns ( 2017 June 30th ) “Tech Time Wrap: The Pikachu virus is not your friend” Smarter MSP 

-MICHAEL