25TH DEC 2023
Hey folks, heads up on a wild one – a sneaky Disney Plus impersonation attack that's taking brand impersonation to a whole new level.
In brand impersonation or credential phishing, cyber-cons pretend to be your favorite brands to pull a fast one on you. Picture this: fake websites, bogus emails, or sneaky messages that look just like the real deal.
So, why do they do it? Well, these cyber bad guys want to take advantage of the trust we have in big, well-known brands. They'll imitate everything – from the websites to the emails.
The goal? To make you think you're dealing with the real deal. Once they've got you hooked, they might try to snatch your login details, personal info, or even your hard-earned cash. Brand impersonation is the go-to move in cyber-attacks, like phishing and social engineering.
In this attack, the cybercriminals pulled out all the stops, using the familiar faces of Disney+ to trick folks like you and me. Here’s the lowdown on what went down.
The hackers pulled out all the stops while designing this attack. Here's how they put it together:
But wait. There’s more:
Once you're on the line, these impostors play nice and ask for your financial details or convince you to download some shady software. And bingo, they've hit the jackpot once they get your info or trick you into downloading their sneaky software.
This Disney+ attack is next-level stuff. They're using emails that look like the real deal, even mimicking legit Disney+ addresses.
The emails have all the Disney+ branding, and they go the extra mile, using your name in the PDF file and the content.
They even go as far as giving you options to make you feel like you have this under control (more mind games): if you’re authorizing this exorbitant (totally unnecessary) payment, then no further steps need to be taken.
However, if you want to dispute the amount, you can call their support team on the number provided. Crafty, huh? No obvious spelling mistakes, no sketchy links – just a clean con job.
Regular security tools like secure email gateways (SEGs) and even us regular folks are struggling to catch this scheme. Those fancy email gateways can’t see anything fishy because there are no obvious signs of trouble – no bad links, no weird attachments.
For us, it’s hard to smell a rat when it looks like Disney+ is knocking at our virtual door. And if you’re using a work email, there’s that extra worry – what if your company card gets hit with a personal expense?
Here's the game plan – fight fire with smarter tech. We're talking about Behavioral AI, machine smarts, and content analysis. Predictive, AI-based email security is like the superhero defending us from the wicked world of cyber threats. With machine learning, you can train the models to recognize legitimate emails, making the bad ones stick out like a sore thumb.
Employing an AI-powered email security solution (like Gmail is doing here) will help you sniff out the fakes, catch the tricks, and keep you safe from the ever-evolving cyber threats. And of course, there's nothing like enrolling for a cybersecurity awareness training program that can help you stay vigilant against sneaky cyber threats like these.
