Introduction
Cybercrimes are the most common type of violence in the modern world. A cyberattack is a malicious, deliberately carried-out attempt by a person or organization to penetrate the information system of another person or organization (“How cyber attacks work.,” n. d.). As a rule, the hacker seeks to gain benefits by disrupting the victim’s network. Attackers seek to exploit the vulnerability of corporate systems, which leads to an annual increase in cybercrime. This paper aims to explore such a phenomenon as mail cyberattacks and research why it happens more often.
Research
Hackers usually use a completely logical scheme to steal data. First of all, an attacker gains access to one of the company’s computers using a phishing email containing a malicious PDF or Word document. Further, the affected machine will become a springboard for attackers in the corporate network. From here, the hacker will look for other vulnerabilities to move from computer to computer in search of valuable data – tables, documents, financial information, and other necessary files (“How cyber attacks work.,” n. d.). When such data is found, they export the files, which must be collected somewhere, and usually, the attacker chooses one of the user computers on the network for storage, not the server.
Article Summary
The article titled “Most email scanner ‘allow lists’ can’t catch this O365 & Gmail attack” tells about hackers who use Adobe Creative Cloud to send viral emails to Gmail and Office 365 users. The emails look like they come from a legit source; however, users receive links that lead them directly to the website created for stealing credentials. In December 2021, the malicious campaign was first identified when Adobe’s representatives managed to halt the attacks (“Most email scanners,” 2021). The hackers work in the following way: they create an image or PDF document with an embedded viral link which is then sent to Gmail and Office 365 users.
The issue is serious since numerous large corporations use Gmail and Office 365, and the attacks threaten them to steal private and valuable information. It is complicated to prevent such emails from appearing in the account since the messages from Adobe are typically scanned as allowed. The authors of the article suggest that each organization ensures high-level security systems (“Most email scanners,” 2021). Additionally, each email receiver should check the message for spelling and grammar and inspect the links more carefully.
Personal Interest
To my mind, a cyberattack is the most common technology-related concern since data stealing is the most common crime nowadays. The article is engaging in a way that, besides informing about the problem, the authors provide practical recommendations. In addition, I found out that a major cloud base like Adobe can be hacked and cause harm to other platforms’ users. This information can be used in my future IT career as a guide to avoiding hacker attacks. Moreover, it expands the understanding of how cyber adversaries act to steal data. Finally, I can use this material as a case study for conducting research on a related topic.
Conclusion
In summary, the number of cyberattacks is constantly growing, causing personal information leakage. Even the major cloud databases like Adobe and platforms like Gmail or Office 365 are not protected from any intruders. It is highly recommended not to click suspicious links or open emails from unknown senders. Ultimately, each personal or corporate device needs a top-security system in order to avoid loss of data.
References
How cyber attacks work. (n. d.). National Cyber Security Center. Web.
Most email scanner ‘allow lists’ can’t catch this O365 & Gmail attack. (2022). CyberTalk.org. Web.