CYBER INSIGHTS: PHISHING/ SEXTORION – The SME Threat Increases!

PHISHING: The Sextortion scam as I like to call it, has raised its ugly head again with a refined Scam for 2024. I first wrote about this nearly six years ago after I received a flurry of emails with the standard copy & paste text. Most Small Businesses/SMEs ignore these threats as not being relevant to business but they would be wrong!

There are many surveys on this subject; but the rule is that over 70% of all internet users view Porn – and the the other 30% Lie!

The NCSC (National Cyber Security Centre) defines Sextortion scams as “Sextortion scams are a type of phishing attack whereby people are coerced to pay a BitCoin ransom because they have been threatened with sharing video of themselves visiting adult websites. These scams are made to appear all the more credible because they provide seemingly plausible technical details about how this was achieved, and the phish can sometimes also include the individual’s password” Learn More /…

How does the Sextortion Scam work?

Very simple really – An email arrives in your inbox, but from your email address. This of course garners immediate concern. The email usually says something like “Hello!
Have you recently noticed that I have e-mailed you from your account?
Yes, this simply means that I have total access to your device. For the last couple of months, I have been watching you. Still wondering how is that possible? Well, you have been infected with malware originating from an adult website that you visited. You may not be familiar with this, but I will try explaining it to you.”

These Emails are given added credence by the sender ID coming from one of your email addresses. They haven’t hijacked your account or computer but set up the sender ID as yours – Simple! Learn More /… Join my Inner Sanctum for my Daily Cyber insights – Practical Daily Advice for your Small Business/SME

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