Tag Archives: social engineering

Greg Sisson, acting deputy chief information officer for cybersecurity and chief information security officer at the Department of Energy (DOE), said the public must be wary of scams that use social engineering tactics amid the pandemic. Sisson explained that social engineering scams use human interaction through texts, phone calls, emails and online platforms to obtain personal information.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced that a data breach involving an online application used to handle medical payments compromised the personal data of approximately 46,000 veterans. The department’s Office of Information Technology will conduct a comprehensive security assessment before restoring system access to prevent data modification and unauthorized access.

The Department of Energy’s office of cybersecurity, energy security and emergency response has advised partners in the government and energy industry to be vigilant to phishing attacks, malicious emails and other cyber threats amid the new coronavirus pandemic. CESER is calling on corporate leaders to advise their employees to be aware of risks associated with phishing, external emails and social engineering, DOE said Thursday.

A center within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence has begun to distribute brochures, videos, flyers and other informative materials to increase awareness about foreign intelligence threats and help U.S. companies protect themselves from nation-state actors. “American companies are squarely in the cross-hairs of well-financed nation-state actors, who are routinely breaching private sector networks, stealing proprietary data, and compromising supply chains," William Evanina, director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, said in a statement published Monday.

David DeVries, principal deputy chief information officer of the Defense Department, is set to join the Office of Personnel Management in the coming weeks as CIO. The 35-year DoD veteran will provide strategic leadership to help strengthen OPM’s cyber posture through partnership with other agencies as part of the White House’s Cybersecurity National Action Plan, OPM said …

NATO leaders will discuss the role of cyberspace in modern wars, conflicts and crises along with strategies to manage cyber issues at the alliance’s summit in Warsaw, Breaking Defense reported Tuesday. Patrik Maldre and Jarno Limnell write the summit, which is scheduled to occur July 8 and 9, aims to tackle political strategies meant to …

The FBI has issued a warning about a series of hacking activities against U.S. networks that it believes are conducted by sympathizers of the Islamic State militant group, Motherboard reported Tuesday. Joseph Cox writes the publication obtained an FBI document that states certain hackers have defaced websites, launched denial-of-service attacks …

Former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has said government officials, corporate executives and the general public should be mindful of their personal information to avoid being hacked, Fedscoop reported Monday. Shaun Waterman writes Chertoff issued the warning in light of reports about a U.S. high school student who said he has accessed …

The FBI has urged small- and medium-sized businesses and other online users to use two-factor authentication in order to protect their personal information from cyber criminals. Internet users should adopt TFA as more cyber threat actors use social engineering, password guessing, keyloggers and other technical tools to secure other individuals’ …

In testimony before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security yesterday, FBI’s Assistant Director Gordon M. Snow spoke about how threats in cyberspace–from social-engineering scams to data mining–are pervasive dangers threatening national security and Americans in their everyday lives. Snow highlighted how modern-day con artists operate on …