Feed South Florida Food Bank donors were unfortunately hit with phony invoices this week.
Organization executives say hackers used spearphishing: a technique that tricks users to reveal information used to infiltrate an agency the person works for.
At this time, Feed South Florida Food Bank doesn't believe the hackers were able to compromise their security, however, the breach did help hackers engage in phishing, a technique using email chains to try to get victims to hand over personal financial information.
U.S. computer-security firms continue to warn organizations about hackers' increased use of spearfishing techniques used to break into networks without breaching firewalls and intrusion prevention systems, and there is no easy-fix solutions in sight.
In order to best avoid intrusions through spearphising and phishing, U.S. computer-security firms suggest that users:
- Do not open suspicious emails or click on unsolicited links or attachments
- Keep software, email filtering technology, strong encryption and anti-virus software up-do-date
- Train users not to re-use passwords, or use passwords in multiple places