Phishing Scam Targets Microsoft Office 365

Clever Criminals Create Malicious Microsoft App

Phishers have recently targeted Microsoft Office 365 users with specialized links that take users to their email login page. After a user logs in, they are prompted to install an app that looks like a normal Office app, but it is a fake app that gives the attacker password-free access to the user’s emails and files.

After logging in, the user might see a prompt that looks something like this:

Looks legitimate, right?

Once installed, the app will remain in a user's Office account until it is manually removed, even if they reset their password.

Of the people who were faced with these cyber attacks, over 20 percent of them were successfully compromised.

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More on the Microsoft Attacks

Microsoft has worked to limit the amount of these malicious Office apps by creating a verification system for people publishing new apps on their platform. Unfortunately, the crafty hackers found a work around. They compromise accounts that have already been verified as credible publishers. Then, they use these accounts to create the app and spread the malware from within them. One main goal of these criminals was to "spoof" an email from someone in an authority position at an organization and request payment using a fictitious invoice. Once they have this spoofed email, there are a number of other uses they have come up with to scam companies or continue spreading their malware.

This isn't the first time a major company has had cyber issues that impacted thousands of businesses, and it definitely won't be the last. Talk to your clients about Cyber Liability. Find applications for quotes on our website here. You can also try our phone quoting option to get a quote in less than 5 minutes by calling (877) 969-7539.