When you use the internet, you leave behind a trail of data, a set of digital footprints.
As you might imagine, your digital footprints put your privacy at risk, but they also affect cybersecurity.
As acybersecurityresearcher, I track the threat posed by digital footprints on cybersecurity.
or to hone phishing attacks by posing as a colleague or work associate.
Phishing attacks havedoubled from early 2020.
The success of phishing attacks depends on how authentic the contents of messages appear to the recipient.
Hackers can use freely availableopen source intelligencegathering tools to discover the digital footprints of their targets.
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Spear phishing attacks can fool even those who are trained to recognize phishing attacks.
One of the most successful forms of phishing attacks has beenbusiness email compromiseattacks.
A good example is the attack targeting the firmUbiquity Networks Inc. in 2015.
The attacker sent emails, which looked like they were coming from top executives to employees.
The email requested the employees to make wire transfers, resulting in fraudulent transfers of $46.7 million.
For instance, one of the employees at retailer Targets HVAC vendorfell victim to phishing attack.
The attackers used his workstation to gain access to Targets internal connection, and then to their payment connection.
