Trend Micro Incorporated today announced a new study revealing how cybercriminals are abusing Twitter via tech support scams, command-and-control (C&C) operations and data exfiltration.
Trend Micro researchers analyzed a large volume of Twitter data to identify relationships between various entities to spot anomalies and uncover key insights.
Criminals were found using fake Twitter accounts to spoof those of legitimate vendors for credible tech support scams. Users call the fake phone number provided, believing they are speaking with the intended company’s help desk, which results in the caller either sharing credit card information or installing malicious content on their computer.
This is often part of a multi-platform strategy along with YouTube, Facebook, Telegram and other channels to improve SEO for fake tech support websites linked to the Twitter accounts, boosting their search rankings.
While criminals are using the social network for bad, threat researchers can leverage the power of social media for good. Most notably, Twitter is used for monitoring vulnerability disclosures to inform patch prioritization, and scanning for indicators of compromise, threat detection rules, and other contextual information to boost threat intelligence.
Trend Micro recommends users confirm the validity of a Twitter account by checking the company’s website directly, rather than through the account. It is also important for security teams to validate Twitter data when leveraging it for investigations or threat intelligence.
To read the full report, please visit: https://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/us/security/news/cybercrime-and-digital-threats/hunting-threats-on-twitter.
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This entry was posted on July 30, 2019 at 9:28 pm and is filed under Commentary with tags Twitter. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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Trend Micro Study Reveals Criminal Abuses Of Twitter
Trend Micro Incorporated today announced a new study revealing how cybercriminals are abusing Twitter via tech support scams, command-and-control (C&C) operations and data exfiltration.
Trend Micro researchers analyzed a large volume of Twitter data to identify relationships between various entities to spot anomalies and uncover key insights.
Criminals were found using fake Twitter accounts to spoof those of legitimate vendors for credible tech support scams. Users call the fake phone number provided, believing they are speaking with the intended company’s help desk, which results in the caller either sharing credit card information or installing malicious content on their computer.
This is often part of a multi-platform strategy along with YouTube, Facebook, Telegram and other channels to improve SEO for fake tech support websites linked to the Twitter accounts, boosting their search rankings.
While criminals are using the social network for bad, threat researchers can leverage the power of social media for good. Most notably, Twitter is used for monitoring vulnerability disclosures to inform patch prioritization, and scanning for indicators of compromise, threat detection rules, and other contextual information to boost threat intelligence.
Trend Micro recommends users confirm the validity of a Twitter account by checking the company’s website directly, rather than through the account. It is also important for security teams to validate Twitter data when leveraging it for investigations or threat intelligence.
To read the full report, please visit: https://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/us/security/news/cybercrime-and-digital-threats/hunting-threats-on-twitter.
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This entry was posted on July 30, 2019 at 9:28 pm and is filed under Commentary with tags Twitter. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.