Cybersecurity Blog

Must Read – The MRU impersonators are ramping things up – 02/28/19

 

Phishing emails that appear to come from Mount Royal University supervisors are making their appearance again. This time they are throwing in the whole, “I am going into a meeting with limited phone calls, so just reply to my email”  nonsense to try and keep you from calling the person directly to verify the legitimacy of the email.

Thankfully they are still using lame sender email addresses, so they are pretty easy to spot if you take the time to look. However,  they have started to use a new tactic that is concerning. They some how have gotten a hold of cell phone numbers and are now texting Mount Royal employees asking them to contact the texter immediately as they have a task for them. The messages appear to come from the employee’s supervisor.

How do you protect yourself from social engineering via text message?

  1. Don’t click on links in text messages
  2. Be suspicious of requests that are outside of regular procedures or processes
  3. Don’t give out information that the person you are talking to should already have

A good rule of thumb is, if it doesn’t feel right it probably isn’t.  If you get a strange request from your supervisor, politely let them know you will get right back to them and hang up. Then contact them using an email or phone number that you know is legitimate.

 

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