Security News > 2021 > January > Aliens and UFOs: A Final Frontier for Social Engineers

"My general rule is that if it makes people a little crazy then it's a candidate for a phishing scheme," Tom Pendergast, chief learning officer at MediaPro told Threatpost.

"Since these documents being released is a legitimate piece of news, it increases the likelihood of a successful phishing attack," Schless said.

"The simplified user experience on mobile makes it easier for attackers to hide phishing links or make fake pages look real. Mobile users are conditioned to tap anything that comes up on their screen, which means they won't exercise the same caution as they would on a computer."

COVID-19 has proven an effective phishing lure, dominating scam themes in 2020 and expected to continue into 2021, according to experts.

The prospect of aliens as a phishing lure is so classic, Pendergast told Threatpost it would make a good test for employee-awareness training.

"People who phish are seeking any kind of gut-level response that might override analytical thinking and prompt clicking a link or disclosing information," he explained.

News URL

https://threatpost.com/aliens-ufos-frontier-social-engineers/162939/