Hack-to-Trade: A Concern for executives

In the past, few Hackers gained access to insider information that netted him millions of dollars. UK national Robert B. Westbrook successfully compromised a CFO's outlook account and added an auto-forward rule in mailbox to redirect all the emails to a disposable temporary email address. Hiding traces under multiple layers of VPN channel, transacting through untraceable accounts, bitcoin transactions but still couldn't escape the investigating agencies.

Westbrook's scheme netted an estimated $3.75 million between 2019 and 2020. He leveraged confidential financial data to anticipate market moves, using "put" options to bet on drops and purchasing shares ahead of positive financial announcements to sell high. The consequences are now being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, which has filed multiple charges, including securities and wire fraud. A conviction could lead to a maximum of 20 years behind bars and significant financial penalties.

A civil suit was also filed against Westbrook by US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), seeking to impose civil penalties and recover fraudulent gains.

Why phishing is still a concern in Business?

While phishing is a very popular cybercrime which all are aware of, but, still big organizations continue falling to the convincing phishing techniques. Cybercriminals frequently target executives, knowing their roles provide substantial access to corporate resources. While businesses invest heavily in security, the weakest link is often the executive's personal digital environment.

This incident demonstrated the damage possible by manipulating a corporate email system. Without the right security controls like monitoring of user mailbox configuration especially the high privileged users, hackers uses it to their advance for smoothly executing the attack. This breach would grant access to the entire home network, serving as a gateway to every digital channel it touches: corporate accounts, banking, insurance records, and personal applications.

This incident underscores a vital lesson: cybersecurity is non-negotiable for executives. Proactive measures must include:

• Using MFA everywhere.

• Monitoring for suspicious account activity.

• Enforcing strict controls and frequently auditing automated forwarding rules.

• Continuous employee education on cyber risks.

Ref: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s23iinXKEsE