Cyber Fraud Attacks on Professional Channels | Avast

Over the past year, we’ve seen a new trend emerge among cyber threats: Professional Channel Attacks. In the past, you only had to worry about your personal email and social channel security. Now attackers are creating elaborate schemes to steal information and money through work email and business-related social media channels, like LinkedIn.

Business Email Compromise, or BEC attacks, are the most expensive problems now facing cyber security. In 2020, BEC scams cost the United States $1.8 billion in adjusted losses according to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center’s (IC3) 2020 Internet Crime Report.

BEC and professional channel attackers are going to great lengths to create believable personas. They are creating fake profiles with emails, social media accounts, and even web pages that look legitimate. 

• In January, North Korean hackers created a fake blog with videos, and multiple Twitter accounts to target security company researchers.
• In…