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The Anatomy of a Cyberattack: Step-by-Step

By Mike Paul
November 01, 2021

Consider this scenario: You're a law firm accountant. Early one morning while reviewing emails, you see a message from the firm's real estate agent stating that the landlord has agreed to your latest counteroffer and is ready to move forward on the rental of your new office space. You continue discussions to finalize the deal, work on signing the paperwork and are ready to send over your deposit. A new email from the agent at the last-minute mentions changing banks and encloses updated wiring instructions. The email has a sense of urgency to send the information quickly or the deal may fall through. Looking at the email, it appears legitimate, and you've done two other deals with this agent in the past, so you feel comfortable with the request. You reply to the message confirming the change, the response says to move forward. And all appears well.

Human interactions on the Internet are often not what you think they are. Whether it's misinformation or a spear-fishing attack that directly targets you with the purpose of stealing money or your identity, it's important that you understand that fostering an information security mindset is critical.

Without additional thought and with the stress of the moving deadline looming over you, you initiate the wire transfer. A day later, when you haven't heard confirmation from your agent, you become suspicious and call them. The agent's assistant answers the phone and informs you the agent has been on vacation for the last two days and hasn't been checking email. You panic, thinking, "Who sent the message?" You get on the phone with your bank, but the funds have already been transferred. You report the transaction to the bank's fraud department, and you have an impending sense of dread. Thousands of dollars are gone.

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