Cybercriminals are using LinkedIn to scam, how to identify the dangers

This is how criminals attack people on LikedIn

There have already been several cybersecurity companies that have warned about the dangers to which users of LinkedIn if they are not careful with their personal information and what they post on their profiles. This because the platform for some time It has become one of the favorite sites for cybercriminals to scam people and steal data.

José Rosell, director of S2 Grupo, explains that “the objective of cybercriminals is always the same: to obtain money or get data, because information is worth a lot of money. Many people believe that phishing cases can only happen through a phishing email and malicious links, but this is not the case. This has become more sophisticated and we also find cases of phishing on LinkedIn”.

The company also reports that there are several cybercrime groups that make use of the well-known professional relationship platform to approach their potential victims for the first time, for example, the well-known Lazarus is one of these criminal organizations that tend to “throw their baits on LinkedIn.” In addition, it not only seeks to scam and steal user data, but also cyberespionage campaigns have been carried out on the social network.

These are the 4 steps attackers use:

1, Observe the target

As a first step, cybercriminals get an idea of ​​the users they plan to attack, studying their profile and behavior on the network, the information they keep public, the content they share, the contacts they interact with and what they like or react to.

2. First approach

Having stalked the person, they will now design the best way to contact them for the first time, probably they will look for a “pretext” related to the interests of the potential victim to make sure the approach is successful for them.

3. Earn trust

This is the moment when criminals make the most effort, as they have to keep users’ attention in the conversation they have started with them, and they also have to earn their trust. That is why usually they take the image of a legitimate entity or they pass themselves off as a very professional organization that offers different types of services such as courses, although in reality that company does not exist.

4. “The Final Thrust”

TechMarkup has defined the last step with this name, the cybersecurity company has called it “Delivery”, but in the end they describe the same thing, since It is the moment when the cybercriminals finally make their attack and there is nothing for the victim to do.

They have already contacted her, sent her a message with an allegedly very interesting offer on behalf of a trustworthy company, even had conversations with her and now that they have gained your trust, they send you a link inviting you to open it as it contains important information.

Once this link sent by cybercriminals has been opened, there are two possibilities of attack, on the one hand it can be the typical form to fill in with personal data, in this way the criminals will keep valuable information that they can use to extort the person later.

But the most unfortunate scenario is if this hyperlink turns out to be a hidden malware also referred to as RAT, which is a software capable of taking full control over the computer and performing espionage and system monitoring activities.

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