Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/692604
87 FINANCE HEALTH IT 5 Things to Know About Whaling, the Emerging Cybersecurity Threat By Akanksha Jayanthi I n addition to phishing schemes, ransomware and other cybersecurity scams, whaling is emerging as a growing cybersecurity threat. Here are five things to know about whaling. 1. Whaling, also known as CEO fraud, is when a hacker pretends to be an executive or senior leader of a company and sends an email to a specific individual to wire or transfer money, according to CIO. 2. Whaling has become a significant enough of a concern that the FBI issued an alert for businesses to be aware and on the look out for such email scams. e FBI has received complaints of such scams from all 50 states and in at least 79 countries in nearly two and a half years. Since January 2015, the FBI reported a 270 percent increase in identified victims of whaling attacks, according to the agency's alert. 3. While other cyber attack tactics generally involve sending spam emails with malicious links — oen sent in mass batches — whaling is a targeted attack. Hackers create email addresses that closely mimic those of company executives, and they research companies to mirror the language used to sound like the leader they are impersonating. "On the surface, business email compromise scams may seem unsophisticated relative to moneymaking schemes that involve complex malicious soware," according to a Krebs on Security report. "But in many ways, CEO fraud is more versatile and adept at sidestepping basic security strategies used by banks and their customers to minimize risks associated with account takeovers." 4. Jay Wessland, vice president and CTO of the NBA team the Boston Celtics, told CIO basic spam filters typically don't identify whaling emails as spam. And, hackers engaging in whaling attacks can easily create new domains to keep sending their messages to employees. "You have to inspect the header of mail more intimately," he said in the report. 5. If an employee sees the email and sends the money, those in the IT sector call it being "harpooned," according to Info World, a somewhat laughable metaphor for a rather serious matter. According to the FBI's alert, businesses have paid more than $2.3 billion to scammers who engage them in whaling attacks from October 2013 through February 2016. n JOIN THE REVOLUTION See why industry leaders are choosing VALIFY, the only automated analytics and benchmarking solution 100% designed for purchased services. $350,000 in overcharged spending identified in one category in just a few days. - New Customer Testimonial Don't rely on consultants masquerading as analytics. Schedule a Live Demo Today 300 Client Hospitals $50B Spend Managed 1000 Categories Benchmarked 5 Day Turnaround The savings achieved by one of your peer health systems in a single category representing a direct profit impact. It more than paid for the investment in VALIFY. And it was achieved in the first month. 27% Real Impact getvalify.com Valify is the ONLY SaaS analytics & benchmarking tool on the market today for managing purchased services in healthcare.