FBI: Cyber Criminals Will Continue Targeting Healthcare Payment Processors Through Phishing Campaigns and Social Engineering

Authored by: Stu Sjouwerman of KnowBe4

Despite the pandemic being largely considered over, a recent Private Industry Notification focused on the Healthcare industry indicates that organizations should remain vigilant.

It appears that after nearly two years of practice, cybercriminals gangs have fine-tuned their craft a bit, figuring out the best way to get the most money out of healthcare organizations. According to the FBI’s recent notification, payment processors are the most recent target. Using a mixture of phishing, social engineering, and good old fashioned fraud, cybercriminals seem to be following the path of getting payment processor to modify banking details that would route payments to criminal-controlled accounts.

Specific indicators were mentioned in the report that healthcare organizations should be mindful of include:

• Phishing emails, specifically targeting financial departments of healthcare payment processors
• Suspected social engineering attempts to obtain access to internal files and payment portals
• Unwarranted changes in email exchange server configuration and custom rules for specific accounts
• Requests for employees to reset both passwords and 2FA phone numbers within a short timeframe
• Employees reporting they are locked out of payment processor accounts due to failed password recovery attempts

Among the recommendations that include shoring up endpoint protection, anti-malware, vulnerability management, and network security assessments, the FBI recommends that organizations implement Security Awareness Training for its’ employees to reduce the likelihood that employees will “revealing sensitive information such as login credentials through phone or web communication.”

Blog Article Provided by and Authored by Stu Sjouwerman of KnowBe4

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