Cybersecurity News. PHOTO: Cybercrime Magazine.

Cybercrime Bytes: Social Engineering Up, New Kevin Mitnick Videos, Security As Code

Weekly news that keeps you on the cutting edge of cybersecurity

Steve Morgan, Editor-in-Chief

Sausalito, Calif. – May 4, 2020

— Social engineering attacks (phishing, vishing, social media, etc.) have risen significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic. We have seen sharp rises in the registration of domain names used to masquerade as legitimate sites. These come in many forms: unexpected money or winnings, fake charity and medical scams, fake apps and even impersonation. Forbes

Five new original Kevin Mitnick short films have been released. The never before seen videos feature Mitnick sharing his favorite hack at age 16, his first social engineering hack at age 12, a story about how he was able to pull off a phone hack while in solitary confinement, and others. Cybercrime Magazine

— According to Cybersecurity Ventures, 3.5 million cybersecurity jobs will be open but unfilled by 2021. There are four exponential technologies that can help meet the cybersecurity scale challenge. They are security as code, automated remediation, machine learning and automated reasoning. Forbes

 — Cybercrime is its own pandemic. The cybersecurity industry witnessed almost 10 billion malware attacks last year and is witnessing a staggering 667 percent increase in phishing attacks owing to COVID-19 this year. Coronavirus will cost the global economy an estimated $2 trillion. Cybercrime on the other hand (also borderless in nature) is estimated to cost the global economy $6 trillion by 2021. SC Magazine

A $12 million U.S. Department of Labor Education and Training Award has tasked Purdue University with providing a path to higher education, certifications, and cybersecurity on-the-job learning through apprenticeships to at least 5,000 students by 2023. Purdue University

— The coronavirus-induced shift to more digital life highlights a new source of significant worry: Computers are also very susceptible to infections by viruses. As with the coronavirus, the more crowded we become on the internet, and the more interactions with strangers we become party to, the greater the danger of a serious infection. The Globalist

— According to the 2019 Deloitte Global Millennial Survey, 78 percent of respondents are worried about how organizations share personal data with each other, and a quarter of millennials have ended consumer relationships because of companies’ inability to protect data. TonerDen


Cybercrime TV: Best of Kevin Mitnick

World’s most famous hacker, on his favorite hack ever


— Research firm Cybersecurity Ventures reveals that in 2018 hackers stole half a billion personal records — a 126 percent jump from 2017 — and more than 3.8 million records are stolen in breaches every day, including recently the World Health Organization. TechXplore

The average Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) salary in the U.S. for 2019 was $90,000. Booz Allen Hamilton was the top employer hiring for the position, with a salary range of  $67,470 – $101,389. Washington, D.C. was the most popular city hiring for the position, with a salary range of $67,000 – $126,121. Simplilearn

— Cybersecurity investing: Even at nearly 9x revenue and 39x forward earnings, Fortinet is only now fairly valued and will be a winning stock due to its market leadership, product innovation, and growth in enterprise customers. SeekingAlpha

— Cybersecurity Ventures back in 2018 warned that by 2021, cybercrime damages might reach U.S. $6 trillion, a sum that would equal the GDP of the world’s third-largest economy. Whether the coronavirus will drive that figure up or down remains to be seen, but things are changing in the dark web economy. SC Magazine

—  As one of the world’s most respected authorities on the subjects of fraud, forgery, and cybersecurity, Frank Abagnale knows how scammers work. In his new book “Scam Me If You Can,” he reveals the latest tricks that today’s scammers, hackers, and con artists use to steal your money and personal information — often online and over the phone. Cybercrime Magazine

Multiple COVID-19-related email scams have been documented. Some provide links to fake Microsoft 365 login screens that capture user credentials. As enterprises continue to make oversight, protection and control of their data a priority, leaders must also solidify their backup strategy for Microsoft 365, according to IDC. Channel Futures

— If projections made by analysts with Cybersecurity Ventures hold, someone somewhere this year will create the 300 billionth computer password. With 7.8 billion people on the planet, that works out to over 38 unique passwords out there for every person on Earth. ExtremeTech

 — A beta version of the 2020 CISO 500 Data File from Cybersecurity Ventures has been released. This special compilation contains the CISO names at the 500 largest companies in the United States. The official file will be released in June 2020. Cybercrime Magazine

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More next week.

Steve Morgan is founder and Editor-in-Chief at Cybersecurity Ventures.

Go here to read all of my blogs and articles covering cybersecurity. Go here to send me story tips, feedback and suggestions.