If you are a plumber, you are probably so busy attending to customers that you just can’t fit in fixing the plumbing at your own house. Well, it seems on a cyber security level, this is the case for Verizon Enterprise Solutions. The company that many medium to large companies trust to help them respond to data breaches has been a victim of just that. Apparently, a vulnerability in Verizon’s website let hackers steal data for 1.5 million of its customers. Said data was seen for sale on the dark web for $10k per record, or at a bargain basement price of $100K for the whole lot. Also for sale were details about vulnerabilities on Verizon’s website.
Information was reported as basic contact information for “a number” of enterprise customers. More details have not yet been disclosed. It is recommended that companies who use Verizon's services provide additional training to employees about phishing and spear-phishing. In addition, ensure all network systems are updated with the latest critical and security patches, as well as operating system updates.
As the data is likely very useful, anyone wanting to use it to trick others into providing sensitive data will be able to do so. Therefore, watch out for those email messages. Pay close attention to the sender’s complete address, not just the name that appears when it arrives in your In Box. Also, since we don’t know precisely which clients were in this list, those messages could look they are from just about any company. It has been reported that 99% of the Fortune 500 companies use Verizon’s services. Don’t blindly trust links in email messages. If you are suspicious at all, take a moment to hover over any links to see where they go. If they don’t go where you would logically expect, it’s phishing. Just delete the message. Also, avoid opening attachments. Most companies don’t unexpectedly send attachments anymore, so it’s good practice to always second guess those.
These basic guidelines don’t apply only to the individual customers of any company, but also to anyone working in those companies. It’s likely that spear-phishing attacks will be attempted as well. These are targeted phishing attacks against particular people, industries, or businesses who the hackers believe have access to information they want. They are more efficient for the cyber criminals than just trying to trick anyone into giving up information.
Ironically, Verizon releases a report every year that includes actual case studies on data breaches. Interestingly, the 2015 report found that organized crime groups were the most often seen doing precisely what was exploited in this case.
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