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Introduction to Cybersecurity
Introduction to Cybersecurity

Famous Phishing Incidents from History

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This lesson teaches about major phishing incidents that caused big financial losses for companies like Sony, Facebook, Google & FACC. Learn how attackers used different methods to steal information or money, and the consequences for the companies and individuals involved.

This lesson teaches about major phishing incidents that caused big financial losses for companies like Sony, Facebook, Google & FACC. Learn how attackers used different methods to steal information or money, and the consequences for the companies and individuals involved.

Video script

In this video, you will learn more about some of the most well-known phishing incidents and what consequences they had for the affected companies.

The Sony Pictures Leak In November 2014, 100 terabytes of data from the Sony Pictures film studio were published by a criminal hacker group.
Top Sony executives, including the CEO, received phishing emails that appeared to come from Apple. The messages asked them to enter ID as verification emails and promptly redirected them to a fake website that intercepted their credentials. With this information, the attackers were able to access a wealth of data, including details about Sony Pictures employees and their families, private correspondence, and information about then-unreleased movies. It is estimated that the incident cost Sony Pictures more than 100 million dollars.

Facebook & Google Between 2013 and 2015, two of the world's largest technology companies were defrauded of 100 million dollars after falling victim to invoice fraud.
The cybercriminal sent out a series of fake invoices worth millions of dollars over two years, posing as trusted suppliers, as well as contracts and letters that appeared to be signed by Facebook and Google executives and representatives. The fraud was eventually uncovered, after which Facebook and Google recovered just under half of the stolen money, while the cybercriminal was arrested and jailed.

FACC In January 2016, an employee of Austrian aerospace parts manufacturer FACC received an email asking the company to transfer 42 million euros to another account as part of an "acquisition project."
Few details have emerged about what exactly went wrong, but there is reason to believe that the CEO bears at least some of the blame. FACC fired him after an internal investigation, saying he had "seriously violated his duties."

If you suspect that an email you received is a phishing attempt, contact your cybersecurity team immediately and wait for further instructions.

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