Page 94 - Cyber Defense eMagazine June 2024

their session has expired. To resume the chat, they must log back in with their password. By delaying
the ask for the sensitive piece of information and then suddenly requesting it, they get the victim engaged
with the scam, and increase the likelihood that they will supply the password.

Once supplied with the password, the adversary will delay the victim while they test the credentials. If
the credentials are invalid or two factor authentication is enabled, the criminal will further interact with the
victim to bypass these obstacles before claiming that their appeal has been successfully submitted and
they will receive further communication within a few days. In reality, the account has already been
compromised.

How to Protect against this Threat

The targeting of Meta using multiple unusual and advanced tactics is a clear indicator of the value
cybercriminals place on social media business accounts. Consider the following tactics to effectively
defend against threats in this area.

• Best practices around Email Security and end-user Security Awareness Training are paramount.
By using a multi-layered email security solution that can block malicious emails from being
delivered to end users and educating end users on how to identify and report suspicious emails
that evade security you greatly decrease the risk of having your credentials compromised
• Secure your organizations’ social media accounts using the most advanced identity features
available to them (MFA, Security Keys, and unrecognized device alerts as of this writing).
▪ Consider directing executives or other high profile individuals to secure their own
personal accounts in the same way.
• Limit access to account credentials to those individuals who absolutely require them.
▪ While not feasible in all organizations, an even more secure implementation is to
consider having different individuals control different authentication factors. For
example, have the main user of the account own the password, but a separate
individual own the device which receives MFA codes.

About the Author

Michael Tyler is the Senior Director of Security Operations at Fortra. Overseeing
Managed Cybersecurity Services for the company’s Digital Risk and Email
Security solutions, he also leads the Managed Threat Intelligence group
supporting companies aiming to gain deeper understanding of adversaries
targeting their organizations. With more than 15 years of experience in
cybersecurity, Michael has a passion for uncovering the “why” behind attacker
tactics and developing effective countermeasures to disrupt their operations. He
also loves buffalo chicken pizza. Michael can be reached online via email at
[email protected] or on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeltyler7/, as well as via our
company website at https://fortra.com

Cyber Defense eMagazine – June 2024 Edition 94
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