The Isogent Insider: December 2024
Welcome to the December 2024 edition of the Isogent Insider! As we wrap up another year, cybersecurity remains as critical as ever, and we're diving deep into the latest threats and trends shaping the digital landscape. This month, we're highlighting some alarming new risks and providing key insights on how to protect your organization and devices.
A Rising Vishing Threat: Our featured article, “New Vishing Threat: FakeCall Malware and How to Protect Your Mobile Devices,” explores the growing danger of voice phishing and what you can do to safeguard your mobile security.
Retail Data Breach Alert: In “57 Million Retail Customers Exposed in Hot Topic Data Breach,” we discuss the latest breach impacting millions of customers and what businesses need to do to secure their customer data.
Ransomware Strikes Again: We also take a closer look at the recent ransomware attack that disrupted operations at US contractor ENGlobal, shedding light on the challenges facing industries today.
As always, the Isogent Insider keeps you informed with the latest cybersecurity developments to ensure your digital safety. Let’s end the year strong and stay secure in 2025!
Never miss a story: Sign up here to receive Isogent's newsletter in your inbox.
The rise of mobile-based phishing attacks continues, and the latest threat, FakeCall malware, has elevated voice phishing (Vishing) to a new level of sophistication. FakeCall installs malware on Android devices, tricking victims into providing sensitive information like banking details and login credentials through fraudulent phone calls and messages.
FakeCall works by taking control of your device’s calls and messages, making it appear as though your phone is functioning normally while silently redirecting calls to malicious numbers. The malware is highly effective and difficult to detect, often using fake interfaces to impersonate legitimate services, such as your bank’s call center.
Here are a few key features of FakeCall malware:
To protect your devices from FakeCall and similar threats:
For a more detailed guide on how FakeCall works and how to protect yourself, read the full blog here.
In a massive breach, hackers have compromised the personal data of 57 million customers across Hot Topic, Torrid, and Box Lunch, exposing sensitive information such as email addresses and credit card details. The breach, carried out by the hacker group "Satanic," exploited a vulnerability in Hot Topic’s cloud storage platform, Snowflake, and affected millions of shoppers.
How Did the Hack Happen? The breach started when an employee at Hot Topic’s partner company, Robling, was infected with infostealer malware. This provided the hacker group with 240 stolen credentials. Without multi-factor authentication (MFA) in place, the attackers gained easy access to Hot Topic’s systems. From there, they exploited misconfigured cloud storage to access and steal sensitive customer data.
Double Extortion The attackers used a double extortion technique: encrypting and stealing the data, and then demanding a ransom. In an effort to increase pressure on the company to comply, Satanic also uploaded samples of the stolen data to dark web forums.
Hot Topic’s Response Despite the severity of the breach, Hot Topic has yet to publicly notify their customers or authorities, leaving many customers unaware of their exposed information.
领英推荐
How to Protect Yourself If you’re a customer of Hot Topic, Torrid, or Box Lunch, it’s important to monitor your accounts for any suspicious activity. Here are key actions you can take:
To read more on how this breach unfolded and what steps you can take to protect your data, check out the full blog here.
ENGlobal, a Houston-based contractor in the energy sector, was hit by a ransomware attack on November 25, 2024, disrupting its operations. The attack encrypted parts of the company’s data and forced them to take some IT systems offline to contain the damage. As of now, the full scope of the attack is unclear, including whether sensitive data was stolen.
ENGlobal is working with cybersecurity experts and has launched an internal investigation. However, the timeline for restoring full access to its systems is unknown, and the financial impact remains uncertain.
The attack highlights the ongoing cybersecurity risks faced by critical infrastructure companies, especially those in the energy and government sectors. While the specific ransomware strain hasn’t been identified, Isogent experts recommend regular software updates, strong data encryption, secure offline backups, and continuous employee training to prevent and mitigate such attacks.
Are you ready to take your cloud setup to the next level? Join us for our upcoming webinar, “Unlock the Power of Cloud Complete,” where we’ll dive deep into Isogent’s innovative all-in-one cloud approach. This session is designed to make your IT environment faster, safer, and effortlessly scalable.
When: December 12th, 2024 | 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM CST
In this engaging webinar, you’ll discover:
Don’t miss out on this opportunity to gain valuable insights that can help you get more from your cloud setup while reducing headaches along the way. Let’s get AI-ready together!
For breaking news from Isogent, sign up here to be notified.