Manufacturing Sector in the Crosshairs of Advanced Email Attacks
Summary:
Email attacks are intensifying in the manufacturing sector, with phishing and business email compromise attacks surging as cybercriminals exploit the industry’s low tolerance for downtime. Over the past 12 months, phishing attacks have increased by 83%, driven by generative AI tools such as ChatGPT. These technologies allow threat actors to create highly sophisticated, error-free emails that evade traditional detection methods. Mike Britton, CIO at Abnormal Security, explains that generative AI has made phishing campaigns more effective by eliminating common red flags like spelling and grammar mistakes. Even inexperienced cybercriminals can now craft convincing, personalized emails that appear authentic, making them exponentially harder for employees to recognize and for secure email gateways to block.
BEC attacks in manufacturing rose by 56% from September 2023 to September 2024, as cybercriminals impersonate trusted parties, such as senior managers, to deceive employees into fulfilling fraudulent requests. These schemes often involve significant research into an organization’s communication patterns to make the attacks more credible. The industry’s susceptibility to BEC stems from its operational urgency, which pushes employees to act quickly, sometimes without adequate scrutiny. Similarly, vendor email compromise attacks have increased by 24% over the same period. Unlike BEC, VEC involves threat actors impersonating external vendors to manipulate victims into paying fake invoices, changing payment details, or initiating fraudulent wire transfers.
Security Officer Comments:
The manufacturing sector’s complex supply chains, which involve numerous smaller vendors and suppliers, further amplify its vulnerability. Smaller suppliers often lack robust security measures, allowing attackers to compromise or spoof their accounts. These attackers then exploit the implicit trust that manufacturers place in their supply chain, making fraudulent emails appear legitimate. Britton warns that these increasingly sophisticated attacks, facilitated by generative AI and supply chain vulnerabilities, are nearly impossible for legacy email defenses to stop.
Suggested Corrections:
Users should always be cautious of individuals or organizations that ask for personal information. Most companies will not ask for sensitive data from its customers. If in doubt, users should verify with the company itself to avoid any potential issues.
Users should always take a close look at the sender’s display name when checking the legitimacy of an email. Most companies use a single domain for their URLs and emails, so a message that originates from a different domain is a red flag.
As a general rule, users should not click links or download files even if they come from seemingly “trustworthy” sources.
Check for mismatched URLs. While an embedded URL might seem perfectly valid, hovering above it might show a different web address. In fact, users should avoid clicking links in emails unless they are certain that it is a legitimate link.
Users should always be on the lookout for any grammatical errors and spelling mistakes. Legitimate companies will often employ proofreaders and editors who ensure that the materials they send out are error-free.
Users should not be frightened or intimidated by messages that have an alarmist tone. They should double check with the company if they are uncertain about the status of their accounts.
Phishing emails are designed to be sent to a large number of people, so they need to be as impersonal as possible. Users should check whether the message contains a generic subject and greeting, as this can be a sign of a phishing attempt.
Although not every end user has access to advanced anti-phishing software, they can still use the built-in protection of their email clients to filter messages. One example is setting the email client to block all images unless approved.
Legitimate companies will never send confirmation emails unless there are specific reasons for doing so. In fact, most companies will avoid sending unsolicited messages unless it’s for company updates, newsletters, or advertising purposes.
Users should always take the context of an email or message into account. For example, most online accounts do away with viewable member numbers, so users should be wary if they receive emails containing a “member number” for services that generally don’t use them.
It is important to take note of unusual information in the text of the message. Any mentions of operating systems and software that are not typically used by consumers can often be indicators of a phishing attempt.
If it seems suspicious, it probably is. Users should always err on the side of caution when it comes to sending out personally identifiable information through messages and emails.
Link(s):
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/manufacturing-advanced-email/
Email attacks are intensifying in the manufacturing sector, with phishing and business email compromise attacks surging as cybercriminals exploit the industry’s low tolerance for downtime. Over the past 12 months, phishing attacks have increased by 83%, driven by generative AI tools such as ChatGPT. These technologies allow threat actors to create highly sophisticated, error-free emails that evade traditional detection methods. Mike Britton, CIO at Abnormal Security, explains that generative AI has made phishing campaigns more effective by eliminating common red flags like spelling and grammar mistakes. Even inexperienced cybercriminals can now craft convincing, personalized emails that appear authentic, making them exponentially harder for employees to recognize and for secure email gateways to block.
BEC attacks in manufacturing rose by 56% from September 2023 to September 2024, as cybercriminals impersonate trusted parties, such as senior managers, to deceive employees into fulfilling fraudulent requests. These schemes often involve significant research into an organization’s communication patterns to make the attacks more credible. The industry’s susceptibility to BEC stems from its operational urgency, which pushes employees to act quickly, sometimes without adequate scrutiny. Similarly, vendor email compromise attacks have increased by 24% over the same period. Unlike BEC, VEC involves threat actors impersonating external vendors to manipulate victims into paying fake invoices, changing payment details, or initiating fraudulent wire transfers.
Security Officer Comments:
The manufacturing sector’s complex supply chains, which involve numerous smaller vendors and suppliers, further amplify its vulnerability. Smaller suppliers often lack robust security measures, allowing attackers to compromise or spoof their accounts. These attackers then exploit the implicit trust that manufacturers place in their supply chain, making fraudulent emails appear legitimate. Britton warns that these increasingly sophisticated attacks, facilitated by generative AI and supply chain vulnerabilities, are nearly impossible for legacy email defenses to stop.
Suggested Corrections:
Users should always be cautious of individuals or organizations that ask for personal information. Most companies will not ask for sensitive data from its customers. If in doubt, users should verify with the company itself to avoid any potential issues.
Users should always take a close look at the sender’s display name when checking the legitimacy of an email. Most companies use a single domain for their URLs and emails, so a message that originates from a different domain is a red flag.
As a general rule, users should not click links or download files even if they come from seemingly “trustworthy” sources.
Check for mismatched URLs. While an embedded URL might seem perfectly valid, hovering above it might show a different web address. In fact, users should avoid clicking links in emails unless they are certain that it is a legitimate link.
Users should always be on the lookout for any grammatical errors and spelling mistakes. Legitimate companies will often employ proofreaders and editors who ensure that the materials they send out are error-free.
Users should not be frightened or intimidated by messages that have an alarmist tone. They should double check with the company if they are uncertain about the status of their accounts.
Phishing emails are designed to be sent to a large number of people, so they need to be as impersonal as possible. Users should check whether the message contains a generic subject and greeting, as this can be a sign of a phishing attempt.
Although not every end user has access to advanced anti-phishing software, they can still use the built-in protection of their email clients to filter messages. One example is setting the email client to block all images unless approved.
Legitimate companies will never send confirmation emails unless there are specific reasons for doing so. In fact, most companies will avoid sending unsolicited messages unless it’s for company updates, newsletters, or advertising purposes.
Users should always take the context of an email or message into account. For example, most online accounts do away with viewable member numbers, so users should be wary if they receive emails containing a “member number” for services that generally don’t use them.
It is important to take note of unusual information in the text of the message. Any mentions of operating systems and software that are not typically used by consumers can often be indicators of a phishing attempt.
If it seems suspicious, it probably is. Users should always err on the side of caution when it comes to sending out personally identifiable information through messages and emails.
Link(s):
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/manufacturing-advanced-email/