News
Know Before You Act: Make Sure SVB-Related Cybercrime Is Detected Fast
Urgent news about the unexpected shutdown of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) is newsworthy for its potential long-term impact on the financial services industry, policymakers, and consumers. Tech businesses are obviously apprehensive about its impact on them and their employees.
Because the response to it is so fluid, this confusion breeds fear making it a perfect opportunity for cyber attackers to exploit the situation by targeting SVB account holders, their customers, and suppliers. And these schemes have already begun! We see them.
The most likely rise in threats will be seen in social engineering themes, attempts to deviate payments, false requests related to deception around registering for FDIC coverage or verifying assets and claims, and all manner of other similar ruses designed to compromise individuals into fraudulent actions. Remember, when experiencing our platform, we discuss that compromised credentials due to phishing or fraudulent actions are the cause in about one-third of successful cyber breaches, with business email compromise (BEC) close behind. Cybercriminals see any chance where they blend fear and opportunity alongside a credible news story as an opening to enhance their focus on these kinds of attacks to lure you into a loss.
The uncertainty surrounding funds being locked or lost already create enhanced business risk. Fair warning to all Founders, Funders, CEOs, CFOs, and their teams: you are more susceptible to these kinds of attacks because of these worries, increasing the need for everyone in your organization to be more vigilant and less trusting immediately. You are being actively targeted.
Mainly watch for attackers who use new or different communication channels than previous interactions as one early sign of manipulation. At cyberconIQ, we remind you to SAVE yourself from yourself. Proactively consider potential risks as you establish new banking relationships elsewhere – simple things like wiring funds become net new activities, no longer repeating a proven process. This intensifies the workloads across existing departments, increasing the risk of human error. So the crime pump is primed.
Further, these changes and risks are as true for you as they will be for all your vendors and customers. Everyone must adapt to this event. So, everyone in your integrated digital supply chain needs to take that extra time and attention to ensure TRUST before ACTION. We recommend putting steps in place, such as mandatory two-factor or multi-factor authentication, for example, or adding additional manual verifications to stop fraud. In addition, consider temporarily accepting only direct person-to-person versus online communications with vendors on any expected changes in wiring, billing, or payment instructions. Then follow up requests with a phone call to a trusted source to deal with whom you think they are, not whom they claim to be.
The SVB crisis presents a financial risk to many of us. But for cybercriminals, this is a financial opportunity. You must raise awareness, inform employees of these new risks, and implement modified processes to include enhanced monitoring that can prevent even wider repercussions on your business. Be vigilant during these uncertain times to protect yourself, your organization, and your customers from victimizing cyber-attacks.
Learn more about our patented Security Awareness Education platform here.