Google Docs Used by Attackers to Steal Office 365 Credentials
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Recent reports show that attackers are now using Google applications to cleverly disguise phishing sites as the Microsoft Office 365 login page. Due to Google Docs’ ability to hide external links, cybercriminals have been able to successfully steal credentials from corporate employees.
The initial email is not too different from common phishing emails, stating that there was an invoice or “deposit advice” attached to the email. The link grants access to anyone who opens it, and if it were forwarded to a corporate accounting department and opened by an individual with privileged access to important accounts/financial resources, the attackers would be able to steal these credentials for great informational or monetary gain.
“Scammers have been resorting to all sorts of tricks to get business users to enter their passwords on a website made to look like Microsoft’s sign-in page,’ says a report from cyber security researchers at Kaspersky Lab.
What does the page look like?
Phishing Red Flags:
- Email was foreign to the recipient
- Caution was issued from the company warning that the message had come from outside of the institution
- The deposit in question is not one the recipient was aware of (and had never occurred)
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Below is the link connected to the email:
While this appears to be a corporate OneDrive page, if you look at the URL you will see that it is a google slides presentation page. This link opens up to this disguised phishing site:
Once an individual attempted to log in, the attackers gained access to their real Office 365 credentials.
SEE ALSO Safe Internet Use Tips
How to Identify a Phishing Email
- Check the from email BOX
- Check the from friendly name – then most likely ignore it!
- Hover over the links and see if they match the (supposed) sender
- Read the content and think about whether it is sensible
- Contact the alleged sender from contact information on the legitimate website NOT what’s in the email
For more information and advice, take a look at our 5 Tips to Identify a Phishing Email Scam, where we discuss preventative measures as well as other red flags we should all get used to identifying.
What do we do with phishing emails when we receive them?
It is inevitable that we will all be (if we have not already been) targets of phishing campaigns. In the event that you are sent a phishing email:
- Do not download the images
- Do not click on any images that did download or their text placeholders
- Do not reply to the email
- DO NOT unsubscribe from the email
- Use an anti-virus app the protect your phone and computers
- Do not click on anything! You can hover over the links to check the URL but note there were a few malware attacks last year that did not require a click to launch the attack!
- Contact your company’s IT department for instructions
- Home users should mark the email as spam and delete it. Empty your email trash after deleting the email
SEE ALSO How to Remove Apps Connected to Your Google Account
The more digitized the world becomes, the sharper we must be to identify and weed out malicious emails and attacks. Cybercriminals are growing bolder and the volume of attacks since the start of the pandemic continue to rise. It is yet to be seen whether the extent of these attacks will continue at their current rate as companies return to in-person workdays, but the channels that have opened due to remote working have certainly given threat actors a substantial amount of practice.
