Smishing Threat Looms: How Businesses Can Protect Helpdesk Staff
Businesses are under threat from a growing form of cyber attack known as SMS phishing, or 'smishing'. This method exploits the immediacy and personal nature of mobile texts to trick victims into revealing sensitive information or installing malware. Organizations must implement help desk solutions to prevent these attacks and protect their helpdesk staff.
Smishing attacks often start with 'scouting', where attackers gather information to enhance their chances of success. They may use a combination of emails and phone calls to target helpdesk staff, aiming to compromise end-user accounts and gain unauthorized access to business-critical systems. Once they gain administrator access, they can deploy legitimate-looking remote administration tools.
To prevent these attacks, organizations can employ tech tools such as company devices with phishing protection, regular software updates, multi-factor authentication (MFA), secure SMS gateways, and mobile antivirus solutions. These help desk solutions can help validate user identities and prevent attackers from impersonating users and deceiving helpdesk agents into sending multi-factor authentication reset codes via SMS.
A recent example of this threat involved the cybercriminal group UNC3944 targeting Microsoft Azure using SMS phishing and SIM-swapping techniques. This highlights the seriousness of the issue and the need for robust security measures.
Smishing poses a significant risk to service desks and organizations. To mitigate this threat, businesses must implement help desk solutions to prevent attacks against helpdesk staff and validate user identities. By doing so, they can protect their systems and data from the severe impacts of smishing attacks, such as financial loss, identity theft, and data compromise.
