Google says hackers are calling financial firm employees to hack and extort victims
Google security researchers have identified a group of hackers using voice phishing to target employees at major financial firms. The attackers trick victims into providing credentials to steal sensitive data for extortion purposes.
Why it matters
This highlights that low-tech social engineering remains a highly effective threat even against sophisticated financial institutions.
Even in the age of AI-powered autonomous cyberattacks , the crude, tried and tested hacking techniques of tricking victims into doing things they shouldn’t are still producing great results.
Groups of unknown hackers are targeting and breaking into large financial and investment firms in the United States with the goal of stealing sensitive data to extort the victims with the threat of publishing it, Google’s security researchers wrote in a report on Thursday.
The company did not name the victims, but Reuters reported that among them there are leading private equity firms such as Apollo Global Management, Bain Capital, Blackstone, Bridgewater Associates, CME Group, KKR, Moody’s, and TPG.
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