Why would a cybercriminal spend time developing malware when he can simply trick unsuspecting users into handing over their passwords? Why would a threat actor spend her money and resources on ransomware, when she can get that same information through a compromised account? It’s a good question, and exactly what the Agari Cyber Intelligence Division wanted to discover. In a growing trend known as...

Wondering what Brand Indicators for Message Identification actually means? Here, we’ll cover the basics of BIMI, what the BIMI-selector header is, what it does, whether you need it, and how to implement it. But first, do you really need the BIMI-selector header? In most cases, you only need the BIMI-selector header if you want to support multiple logos for multiple brands or subdomains. Otherwise...

Global adoption of Domain-based Messaging, Reporting & Conformance (DMARC) topped 10.7 million email domains worldwide in 2020—reflecting a 32% increase in just six months, according to our H1 2021 Email Fraud & Identity Trends Report . The total number of domains with DMARC set to its highest level of protection against email spoofing climbed to 3.8 million during the same period. That's up a...

Wondering how DMARC affects email? Here’s a comprehensive guide explaining what DMARC is, how it affects email, and why your company needs it for security. What is DMARC? What does DMARC mean? DMARC, short for Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance, is an email authentication protocol to help email administrators prevent fraudsters from spoofing email domains by specifying...

While we’re all Zoomed, Webexed and Teamed out after thirteen months of the pandemic, cybercriminals are taking advantage of the situation. They know we’re heavily relying on digital communications and they’re sending fake emails, pretending to be your boss. They’re sending fake invoices, pretending to be your vendor. They’re even sending fake requests for gift cards, on the off-chance that...

Sophisticated new threat actors, evolving phishing tactics, and a $800,000 business email compromise (BEC) scam in the second half of 2020 all signal big trouble ahead, according to new analysis from the Agari Cyber Intelligence Division (ACID). As captured in our H1 2021 Email Fraud & Identity Deception Trends Report , successful attacks on Magellan Health, GoDaddy, and the SolarWinds "hack of...

In July 2020, we published a report on a Russian-based BEC group we called Cosmic Lynx . In that report , we described the tactics used by the group, which included its targeting of senior executives at large companies with a global footprint and how it uses mergers and acquisitions (M&A) themes in its BEC email lures. Shortly after we published the report, we saw a significant decrease in Cosmic...

Why do you need DMARC to protect your email domains from being leveraged in phishing attacks? To get the full picture, let's look at the basics—and how DMARC came to be. What is DMARC? Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance, or DMARC , is an open email authentication protocol that helps senders protect their email domains from being spoofed by fraudsters in phishing attacks...

Curious how BIMI can protect your email? I’ll explain what BIMI is, how it works, and how you can use it to protect your brand’s email communications. What is BIMI? Brand Indicators for Message Identification, or BIMI, provides a standardized method for businesses to showcase their brand logo next to the subject line of their authenticated emails so they stand out in crowded inboxes, with built-in...

CISOs and their teams are about to get some serious performance enhancers in their high-stakes race against email security threats. According to the FBI, phishing campaigns, business email compromise (BEC) scams, and other advanced email attacks have resulted in $26 billion in business losses over the course of three years. Then 2020 happened. With 75 million corporate employees even now still...

Implementing DMARC at its highest enforcement level is critically important to security and messaging operations. But it's also just the first step to realizing the full value of your DMARC program. To understand why, let's start with the basics. DMARC , which stands for Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance, can stop fraudsters from spoofing your domain and impersonating...

This post originally appeared on Medium and is published here courtesy of Ronnie Tokazowski. For more by Ronnie, follow him on Twitter @iHeartMalware . If you’re reading this and are in the middle of an incident, go to the first bullet now . The rest can wait. Malware incidents suck, but if you want to know what it’s like responding to a BEC incident, triple the carnage, shake the snow globe, set...

Business email compromise ( BEC ) actors are exploring alternative cash-out methods for spiriting away the profits from their crimes. Traditional bank accounts have long been the go-to choice for email scammers seeking to cash out the funds they've pilfered from organizations they victimize. Just since 2016, BEC groups have defrauded businesses out of more than $26 billion worldwide. But over the...

We'll cover what DKIM for email is, why your company needs it, how it works, how to set DKIM up, and additional ways to prevent email spoofing attacks. What is DKIM? First, let’s clarify what DKIM is in email. DomainKeys Identified Mail is a technique that uses your domain name to sign your emails with a digital “signature” so your customers know it’s really you sending those emails and that they...

In this post, we will look at 5 keys to DMARC success both organizationally and in enterprise-wide implementation. Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC) is a standard email authentication protocol that plays an essential role in any organization’s cyber security arsenal. That’s because DMARC is key to protecting your business, customers, and partners from email...

Here we’ll cover what BEC attacks are, how they work, what they usually look like, and how to handle them. What is a BEC Attack? 7 Common BEC Attack Patterns Top Identity Deception Techniques How Can BEC Attacks be Stopped? What's the Best Way to Recover From a BEC Attack? What is a BEC Attack? First, let me explain what a BEC attack is. In short, Business Email Compromise phishing occurs when...

Over the last five years, Business Email Compromise (BEC) has evolved into the predominant cyber threat businesses face today. Since 2016, businesses have lost at least $26 billion as a result of BEC scams and, based on the most recent FBI IC3 report , losses from BEC attacks grew another 37 percent in 2019—accounting for 40 percent of all cybercrime losses over the course of the year. The...

We'll explain how to configure DMARC for your company's email, including what you'll need and how to add DMARC to your DNS. Just follow these DMARC setup steps! Before we begin, here’s a high-level overview of how to add DMARC to your DNS. Add your DMARC record into your DNS Select the TXT record type Add the host value (see details below) Add the value information (see details below) Save the...

With cyber gangs leveraging business email compromise (BEC) attacks that actively exploit their targets' level of DMARC adoption, CISOs have been ratcheting up email security. Until now, the need to dial up defenses against imposters posing as senior executives in email attacks has been increasingly forcing legitimate business correspondence into quarantine. The chain reaction kneecaps commerce...

For a growing number of email marketers, it may be "BIMI or bust." As of June 30, nearly 5,300 companies have adopted Brand Indicators for Message Identification ( BIMI ), a new email standard for showcasing a brand's logo next to its email messages in recipient inboxes, with built-in protections against phishing-based brand spoofing. The tally reflects a 3.8X increase in the number of brands...