Tax Hackers Demonstrate The Power And Skill Of The Social Engineer
The closure of 180 websites responsible for an income tax ‘phishing’ scam over the past three months represents another stage in the ongoing rise of ‘the social engineer’.
The scale and sophistication of the tax phishing scam just demonstrates the lengths at which hackers will go to obtain information. It is not just the easily fooled that are lured in. The simple fact is that people won’t always recognise a bogus email or an unauthorised website.
By playing on an emotive topic like child’s benefits or personal finance and offering people the opportunity to reclaim some cash, coupled with the disguise of a trusted name, scammers are tapping in to an instant source of information – which they can then harvest and use for malicious purposes.
With the financial risk of people losing money from these scams, banks and organisations have a responsibility to enhance their security measures to mitigate against unauthorised access to funds. Organisations are now moving towards a more proactive security model to help protect against. People and organisations need to wise up and get smarter to these scams.
Alan Bentley
Alan Bentley is Senior Vice President of International Sales at Lumension Security. In this role, he is responsible for overseeing and driving sales and marketing efforts in Asia Pacific and EMEA. An industry veteran with over 10 years experience in the IT security industry, Alan is responsible for leading teams in EMEA and APAC and elevating brand awareness, thought leadership and increasing market penetration to drive growth in the respective markets. Prior to Lumension, Alan held executive management roles in security organisations based across the UK including Global Secure Systems and Ellipse Distribution. Prior to entering the security industry, Alan held sales roles for MAN Roland, a German based company in the printing industry and Hanson, a UK company in the construction industry. Alan holds a degree from Brunel University with a BA (Hons) in European Business Studies. He also completed his PGCE at Roehampton Institute.
Alan Bentley is Senior Vice President of International Sales at Lumension Security. In this role, he is responsible for overseeing and driving sales and marketing efforts in Asia Pacific and EMEA. An industry veteran with over 10 years experience in the IT security industry, Alan is responsible for leading teams in EMEA and APAC and elevating brand awareness, thought leadership and increasing market penetration to drive growth in the respective markets. Prior to Lumension, Alan held executive management roles in security organisations based across the UK including Global Secure Systems and Ellipse Distribution. Prior to entering the security industry, Alan held sales roles for MAN Roland, a German based company in the printing industry and Hanson, a UK company in the construction industry. Alan holds a degree from Brunel University with a BA (Hons) in European Business Studies. He also completed his PGCE at Roehampton Institute. ...less info
