Phishing attacks have been a prevalent, and often quite successful method of obtaining sensitive data from unsuspecting victims for quite a few years now. These attacks are extremely common through email and usually only require the user to click on a link contained within, and enter the information requested. Due to the simplicity of obtaining potentially valuable data from users, many companies have been instituting security training  for these types of attacks by using phishing tests to determine their employees’ ability to discern a real email from a possible phish.

With the latest breach coming from the United States’ Office of Personnel Management, the question remains of what could have been done to prevent such a high-security organization from making a simple mistake that could be catastrophic? The answer seems to be increasing the amount of security training that is taking place within these organizations, in regards to phishing attacks and basic online security.

Unfortunately, many users continue to fail these types of tests, while still holding high-level security clearance. This is likely due to the lack of reprisal for the user, aside from more security training sessions, which allows the poor behaviour to carry on. Paul Beckman, CISO for the Department of Homeland Security, has a different idea about consequences for these individuals, who are often senior managers or other C-level employees. He states, “Someone who fails every single phishing campaign in the world should not be holding a TS SCI with the federal government”, and suggests that these employees should have their security clearance removed until such time that they can prove to be responsible with extremely sensitive information.

Beckman said he hopes to move forward with the discussion of cracking down on repeat offenders, but it will all take more time and getting more CISOs on board. Meanwhile, these types of attacks are becoming more personal and thus, more difficult to prevent against.

With other companies able to learn lessons based off the circumstances surround the OPM hack though, we hope too see a continued shift towards education and understanding from the largest corporations down to the standard internet user. Maintaining awareness and understanding of the threats on the internet, especially effective ones such as phishing, is the first step in moving towards safer browsing habits.

Connor Madsen

About the Author

Connor Madsen

Threat Research Analyst

As a Threat Research Analyst, Connor is tasked with discovering and identifying new malware variants, as well as testing current samples to ensure efficacy. Don’t miss the latest security news from around the world in his weekly Cyber News Rundown blog.

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