Security News > 2021 > May > Train operator phlunks phishing test by teasing employees with non-existent COVID bonus
UK rail operator West Midlands Trains sent an email to 2,500 employees to thank them for hard work during COVID and promised a one-time bonus as a reward, but that lovely news turned out to be phishing training.
The event may end up costing the UK train operating company as Cortes has demanded the company make good and provide the promised bonuses.
While the "Test" may have made it easy for the IT team to find security flaws, it looks like making plenty of work for West Midland Trains' crisis public relations team, although it appears they have not yet seemed to catch on.
Some of the jobs at at West Midlands Railway pay half the national average, a fraction of the pay of a senior director.
It's lazy & unethical to exploit low paid staff risking their lives in a pandemic with false promises of a bonus to check if your IT training is up to scratch.
The phishing test email claimed to come from the desk of recently appointed West Midland Trains managing director Julian Edwards.