Coveware’s Ransomware Attacks Report for Q4 2020

📉 DDoS Confidence Is a Dangerous Illusion

🔎 Organizations report heavy investment in DDoS tools yet test protections rarely – 86% test once a year or less.

⚠️ Most teams still run fewer than 200 DDoS simulations per year – that leaves thousands of dormant misconfigurations waiting for real load.

⏱️ Mean detection and manual mitigation time is 23 minutes – enough time for outages and for DDoS to mask a deeper intrusion.

🔧 While 63% claim automated defenses, 99% rely on manual checks – and 60% of vulnerabilities were found where protections supposedly existed.

📊 On average, organizations saw 3.85 damaging DDoS incidents last year – confidence is not the same as capability.

🛠️ The fix is continuous validation – non-disruptive DDoS simulations, automated runbooks that trigger mitigations in seconds, and measurable audit trails.

📈 AUMINT.io simulates attack scenarios and measures both human and tooling responses so you can fix real gaps before they hit production.

🚀 Want a prioritized DDoS readiness checklist and a guided walkthrough? Schedule your demo

#CyberSecurity #CISO #SOC #DDoS #IncidentResponse #AUMINT

🚨 The Hidden War Inside Your AI Tools

🧠 Every prompt you write could be feeding an invisible enemy.

💻 Attackers now poison the very data that trains AI models – shaping how they “think,” decide, and respond.

⚠️ This manipulation isn’t about breaking the system – it’s about rewriting its logic.

🔍 It’s called AI Data Poisoning and LLM Grooming – subtle cyberattacks that twist large language models to promote biased ideas, false data, or even targeted deception.

🤖 Just 0.1% of tainted data can permanently alter how an AI behaves – and most teams won’t even notice until damage is done.

🧩 Imagine a chatbot subtly promoting false narratives or biased outputs that shape public trust, politics, or brand reputation. That’s not a future threat – it’s happening right now.

🛡️ Organizations must adopt adversarial training, red-team audits, and cryptographic validation to defend their AI ecosystems.

💬 At AUMINT.io, we help companies simulate, detect, and neutralize human and AI manipulation risks before they spread.

👉 Read the full breakdown and practical defense roadmap on AUMINT.io.

🔗 Book your strategy session
to secure your organization’s AI layer.

#CyberSecurity #AI #CISO #CTO #AIsecurity #LLM #DataPoisoning #SocialEngineering #AUMINT #CyberAwareness

🔍 Search Clicks Are Now Attack Surface

🔍 Employees searching payroll portals are being ambushed by SEO-poisoned sites that look authentic.

📱 The campaign targets mobile users – phones lack enterprise EDR and often never show up in SIEM logs.

🔗 Fake portals capture credentials and stream them to attackers via WebSocket – access is exploited in real time.

💸 Attackers then change payroll deposit details – money diverts before detection, and investigations look like human error.

⚙️ Defenses must include bookmarking official portals, conditional access with device posture checks, and behavioral monitoring for credential misuse.

📊 AUMINT.io simulates these search-based lures across mobile and desktop, exposing where your humans and tooling fail.

🚀 Want a hands-on checklist and a simulated test of your payroll pathway? Schedule your demo

#CyberSecurity #HumanFactor #PayrollSecurity #CISO #SOC #AUMINT

📱 Social Posts Could Trigger Your Next Breach

🔐 A simple “Like” or share on a work device can expose your entire network.

👥 Employees using WhatsApp, LinkedIn or Facebook at work are unwittingly feeding attackers entry points – platform design and social trust make it worse.

🔗 One misplaced click on a fraudulent ad or link can unleash malware or phishing across your organisation.

💸 The average breach cost in South Africa hit R53 million in 2024 – human error is the price tag.

🛡️ At AUMINT.io we simulate real-world social media use and messaging staffing-paths to surface your human risk surface and harden your defences.

🚀 Want to see where your weakest exposure is? Schedule your demo

#CyberSecurity #HumanFactor #SOC #CISO #SocialEngineering #AUMINT

🕵️‍♂️ Job-Seekers Are the New Frontline for Cyber Attacks

🔍 A threat group called BatShadow is targeting job-seekers and marketers with fake recruitment emails delivering a Go-based backdoor called Vampire Bot.

📧 The lure arrives as a ZIP file claiming to be a job description. Inside: a decoy PDF and a disguised “.pdf.exe” file that launches an infection chain.

💻 The malware profiles the host, captures screenshots, steals credentials, and connects to a remote attacker server – blending into normal traffic and staying hidden.

⚠️ Why it matters: your candidate pipeline may be your weakest human link. One compromised applicant or contractor can expose your network before formal onboarding begins.

📊 Use AUMINT.io to simulate recruitment-style attacks, train your team – and test your human firewalls.

🚀 Ready to find your weakest link before hackers do? Schedule your demo

#CyberSecurity #HumanFactor #SocialEngineering #RecruitmentRisk #CISO #AUMINT

🔐 Cyber Attacks Targeting Firms Skyrocket

🚨 Professional services firms are now prime targets for sophisticated cybercrime.

🕵️‍♂️ Attackers exploit human trust, impersonate vendors, and manipulate helpdesks to steal sensitive client data.

💰 Double extortion is skyrocketing – attackers steal data first, then demand multi-million-dollar ransoms. Mid-sized firms are most vulnerable.

⚠️ Standard IT controls are no longer enough. Employee awareness, strict MFA, and continuous monitoring are critical defenses.

📊 AUMINT.io simulations expose hidden vulnerabilities and train employees to act as a human firewall.

🚀 Protect your firm proactively and see your cyber resilience grow – Schedule your demo

#CyberSecurity #ProfessionalServices #CISO #LawFirmSecurity #AccountingSecurity #ConsultingSecurity

🐝 Honeypots Catch Attackers Cheap and Fast

🐝 Honeypots are decoys that legitimate users never touch – when they trigger, you know an attacker is inside your sightline.

🔍 Simple decoys like fake admin accounts, bogus API keys, or dummy repos produce high-fidelity alerts without the false-positive noise of costly SIEM setups.

⚠️ In one real case, planted OAuth tokens exposed a contractor trying to exfiltrate sensitive data in days – setup cost: a few hours.

🧭 For budget-constrained teams, honeypots change the detection game – you chase signals that should never exist, not faint anomalies buried in normal logs.

🛡️ They are not a cure-all – pair them with social engineering simulations, least-privilege policies, and continuous monitoring to close the human gaps attackers exploit.

📊 AUMINT.io simulates realistic human-targeted attacks and shows you where employees or vendors will likely fall for lures that lead attackers to your crown jewels.

🚀 Want a step-by-step deployable plan this week? Schedule your demo

#CyberSecurity #SOC #CISO #Infosec #SecurityOps #Honeypots #AUMINT

🚨 Storm-2657 Payroll Pirates Target Universities

Microsoft warns of attacks hijacking employee accounts to steal salaries.

💡 HR SaaS platforms like Workday are being exploited with phishing and MFA bypass.

👥 Attackers use AiTM phishing links, enroll their own MFA devices, and hide email notifications to reroute payroll.

⚡ 11 accounts compromised across three universities sent phishing emails to nearly 6,000 targets.

✅ Adopt phishing-resistant MFA like FIDO2 keys.

✅ Review accounts for unknown MFA devices and malicious inbox rules.

✅ Educate staff to recognize phishing tactics.

AUMINT.io helps organizations detect hidden gaps through simulations and continuous monitoring – Book your session now
.

#CyberSecurity #MFA #Phishing #PayrollSecurity #HigherEducation #MicrosoftSecurity

🚨 Corporate Social Media – Your Hidden Security Threat

Marketing teams often control accounts, not IT.

💡 Shared credentials and disabled MFA leave dormant accounts open to attacks.

⚡ Attackers can post offensive messages, redirect ad spend, or distribute malware.

👥 MFA bottlenecks and social engineering create human factor vulnerabilities.

✅ IAM/IGA tools like Cerby centralize access, enforce MFA, and rotate passwords.

✅ Continuous monitoring prevents ghost accounts and unauthorized posts.

AUMINT.io simulates attacks and uncovers hidden risks before damage occurs – Book your session now
.

#CyberSecurity #SocialMediaSecurity #FraudPrevention #BrandProtection #CISO #ITSecurity

🔐 Neighbor Attack – Your Office Wi-Fi Could Be the Weak Link

🚨 A new cyber threat has emerged, exploiting the proximity of neighboring offices to infiltrate secure networks.

🕵️‍♂️ Attackers gain access to a neighboring office’s network, bridging the gap to your organization’s Wi-Fi, bypassing MFA protections.

💡 This highlights a critical oversight in traditional cybersecurity measures – assuming physical proximity doesn’t equate to network vulnerability.

🔒 Implementing strict network segmentation and continuous monitoring are essential defenses against such threats.

📊 AUMINT.io provides real-time threat detection and comprehensive security analytics to protect your organization from emerging cyber threats.

🚀 Stay ahead of cybercriminals – Schedule your demo

#CyberSecurity #NetworkSecurity #MFA #WiFiSecurity #AUMINT