SASSA Grant Fraud – Cyber Hacking

R175 Million Grant Fraud Exposed at SASSA as Threats Continue

More than 26 million South Africans rely on some form of social grant to cover their basic expenses, and with the recent increases in the cost of living, this financial lifeline from the state has become a matter of survival for many families.

Unfortunately, cybercriminals may be planning to target the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA), which has recently been shown to have significant cybersecurity vulnerabilities.

In this article, we take a look at the recent R175 million cyber fraud incident reported by the agency, in light of media reports suggesting its online application system may be an open invitation for fraudsters.

Here’s what every citizen needs to know with yet another government department buckling under the pressure of the country’s growing cybercrime wave.

R175 Million Stolen in Grant Fraud

The NaughtySecGroup has reared its ugly head again, claiming responsibility for stealing R175 million from social security grants by allegedly opening a staggering 100 000 fraudulent bank accounts across the country.

The hacking group, which made headlines last year by nearly stealing TransUnion’s entire data set for South African clients, says the recent move was in retaliation for not receiving the $60 million (close to R1 billion) ransom they demanded.

If the hackers are to be believed, the safety of South Africans’ financial information and the security protocols used by banks for account opening procedures are now in question. SASSA has revealed very little information in the wake of these claims, failing to reassure the public that the situation is under control.

Researchers Spotlight SASSA’s Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities

As the social welfare agency reels from its recent brush with fraudsters, a recent article reveals that the agency may be extremely vulnerable to follow-up attacks by cybercriminals.

Two students from Stellenbosch University conducted independent research into the agency’s vulnerability status by using a random sample of ID numbers to test the agency’s online application security. The results are alarming, to say the least.

When testing the system with ID numbers issued to people born in 2005 – representing a relatively young cohort of citizens – the researchers found that 91% percent of these numbers were associated with grant applications.
Given the young age and presumed good health of the applicants, it seems highly implausible that they would all be genuine grant applicants.
The researchers also applied for grants through the system at a rate of 700 per minute, an action that should have triggered a security alert and prevented further applications. However, the application process continued without interruption.

In conjunction with the claim of the R175 million fraud, these findings cast serious doubt on the security protocols in place at government departments, as well as in the financial sector.

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Domain Name Scams – Cybercrime

How to Avoid Domain Name Scams

Millions of consumers visit their favourite retail websites or online banking portals regularly to enjoy the convenience of instant shopping or financial transactions.

Unfortunately, the very sites that we visit and trust with our private information, including banking details, could very easily be fake.

Domain name scams are becoming increasingly popular around the world as cybercriminals take impersonation to the next level, building virtual replicas of well-known websites.

As this phenomenon spreads in South Africa, local internet users will need to be extra vigilant when shopping and banking online.

How cybercriminals impersonate entire websites

The modus operandi that cybercriminals tend to follow when carrying out these scams is both simple and deceptive.

First, fraudsters register a domain that closely resembles the real domain, making it sound plausible. Some hypothetical examples of these sites could be absabankingsite.co.za or amazononlineshop.co.za.

For someone who isn’t familiar with the company’s real URL, these websites seem legitimate enough because they have been designed to look identical to the real thing.

Once unsuspecting customers land on these websites—which can be promoted through fraudulent social media, email or WhatsApp spam—they are typically prompted to log in using the actual credentials they use for online banking or shopping.
Once this is done, the cybercriminals have access to their login details, which can then be used to gain access to their accounts and carry out various fraudulent acts.

Domain name scams can be very convincing, but there are ways to avoid them when banking and shopping online.

How to stay safe in the age of fake websites

As an internet user, you have reason to be concerned about these advanced impersonation scams, which now include entire website replicas.

The only way to be certain that the website you’re using is authentic is to confirm that it is, in fact, the official website of the company you’re dealing with. This can be verified with a Google search.
It’s also important to note that most companies will never ask you to supply your login credentials by email or any other form of communication. Any correspondence you receive asking for this is likely to be suspicious.

When logging into internet banking or retail shopping websites, we recommend that internet users always opt for multi-factor authentication.

For banking, downloading your bank’s official online banking app is much safer than relying on the website, which may or may not be genuine.

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Healthcare Industry – Cybersecurity Hygiene

Poor Cybersecurity Hygiene Puts Healthcare Industry in Critical Condition

Hospitals and medical providers are on high alert after a devastating cyber-attack brought National Laboratory Services to a standstill, potentially endangering patients’ lives and exposing their private data to criminal elements.

As the healthcare industry joins a long list of sectors currently targeted by cybercriminals, medical firms are looking to strengthen their defences against online attacks. In this article, we examine the current cybercrime landscape in the healthcare industry and how the concept of cybersecurity hygiene can help protect vulnerable organisations.

National Laboratory Services hit by a major cyberattack

Cybercriminals made headlines once again last month when they carried out a ransomware attack against National Laboratory Services, one of the largest providers of pathology services to public hospitals.

The laboratory network, responsible for testing blood and other human tissue samples for the medical profession, came to a standstill as its systems were offline for a period of weeks.
An estimated 6 million test results were rendered unavailable by the attack, delaying operations and chronic illness treatments nationwide.
Medical information, particularly urgent test results that could influence treatment outcomes, has become fair game for cybercriminals, who show no mercy when it comes to the type of information they’re willing to hold hostage.

In the wake of the attack, medical providers and hospitals across the country are scrambling to enhance their cybersecurity measures.

Fortunately, the concept of cybersecurity hygiene, which should resonate with the healthcare industry, is one of the most effective ways to achieve higher levels of data protection.

Ensure a healthy network with cybersecurity hygiene

To safeguard data at a time when cyberattacks are increasing daily, a reliable set of preventative measures is required. Much like the hygiene practices commonplace in hospitals and doctors’ offices, these procedures can result in fewer malware infections, ransomware incidents, and hacking attempts if implemented conscientiously.

Limit access to critical data: Password-protected files with multi-factor authentication should be standard in every hospital and medical practice today. This not only protects patient privacy but also keeps sensitive files out of the wrong hands.
Invest in cybersecurity defences: Examples of these include updated firewalls and the latest antivirus software. Additionally, secure cloud storage and automated backups featuring encryption technology provide significant layers of protection for your data.
Train staff to recognise cyberattacks: With many cyberattacks occurring through social engineering staff need to be trained to identify suspicious emails and communications, and to never disclose sensitive information to third parties.

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Biometric Authentication – Secure Cloud Storage

Is the ‘liveness’ of biometric authentication the way forward?

With smart payments becoming the norm throughout South Africa, a new type of financial convenience is upon us, along with an increased risk of cybercrime and fraud.

Tap-to-pay services, including Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and proprietary banking apps that link smart devices with customers’ credit cards, have come to make up a large chunk of total transactions, especially for income earners.

As this trend continues, it’s important to consider the security measures that need to be in place to avoid a surge in online fraud.

Let’s take a look at contactless payments and the biometric identification systems being developed to keep customers safe.

Enjoying tap-to-pay. Preventing tap-to-steal

If you’ve noticed tap-to-pay terminals at your favourite shop recently, you’ve already witnessed one of the biggest trends sweeping banking across the country.

Contactless payments, made possible by the NFC technology found in modern smartphones, mean you no longer have to swipe or insert your card. You can simply tap your credit card or an enabled device linked to your account and pay within seconds.

Standard Bank appears to be leading the way in this regard, with more than 50% of transactions at the bank currently taking place through contactless means. A similar upward trend has been reported by Absa and Nedbank, though not to the same extent.

The convenience that contactless payments bring is easy to anticipate; customers no longer need to enter PINs or swipe cards, as they can use biometrics on smartphones to ensure that the transactions taking place are genuinely theirs.

Unfortunately, like many verification technologies, biometrics have already been faked by cybercriminals.

Is that really your face? False facial images can deceive Face ID

Just when you thought cybercriminals couldn’t get any smarter, some of them have figured out how to reproduce a human face to such an accurate degree that Face ID and similar verification systems can be fooled.

In response to this threat, secure banking apps and other login credential verification systems are now requiring liveness verification, which can detect whether the face being used for identification belongs to a living, breathing human and matches the credentials for that specific account.

If you’ve tried to verify your online banking app recently, you may have experienced this process firsthand.

Multi-factor identification, including passwords, digital device tokens, and other methods to ensure that the account holder is logging in, have become the norm across the banking industry.

But while banking apps secure their login credentials, cybercriminals remain on the lookout for easy targets – including your sensitive business documents and client information.

Secure your data in the age of easy money flows

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Facebook Business – Phishing

How safe is your Facebook Business account?

Facebook business accounts provide companies with a great way to reach potential customers and stay in touch with their network of followers. But recently this platform has become a major target for cybercriminals.

An onslaught of phishing attempts against Facebook business users has prompted Meta to release a new framework of safety guidelines to prevent further attacks.

Let’s take a look at the cybersecurity situation around Facebook commercial accounts and what you can do to keep yours safe.

Cybercriminals target Facebook business users

Recently, headlines about compromised Facebook business accounts have been causing concern in the commercial sector, both internationally and in South Africa.

The potential risks involved in a compromised Facebook business account include financial and reputational losses arising from impersonation and takeover attempts. In this scenario, cybercriminals could gain access to your account and use it to defraud your customers.

Cybercriminals gain access to your account, change the associated bank account, and request payment from customers which would be channelled into their account and may never be recovered.
In addition, the damage to your company’s reputation in the wake of an incident like this could be massive, with disgruntled and aggrieved customers taking to Facebook itself to spread the news, about fraudulent activity carried out in your company’s name.

How to spot the signs of a Facebook Business phishing attempt

Like many cybersecurity breaches, Facebook Business account takeovers begin with innocent seeming emails and Facebook messages, particularly in the form of business partner requests.

Emails purporting to be from Facebook are another popular method that hackers used to carry out phishing attacks.

According to Meta, it’s essential for users to be on the lookout for email addresses with domains which are almost the same as the official ones used by Facebook but vary in terms of a single letter or word. The following domains are the only official ones used by Facebook:

fb.com
facebook.com
facebookmail.com
instagram.com
meta.com
metamail.com
support.facebook.com

In general, any email or electronic message that asks you to click on a link or enter account details should be treated with a high degree of suspicion.

This is especially true if the message refers to an account action that Facebook supposedly wants you to take but doesn’t come up as a request on the Facebook app or website itself.

If you find yourself unable to access your account, receive complaints from customers who have received strange messages from your Facebook Business account, or suddenly notice that your account is following strange accounts, it’s highly likely that you’re a victim of phishing.

It’s essential to report your account as compromised immediately to avoid serious losses.

Protect your online business with secure cloud storage

Considering that Facebook business accounts are used to process payments and interact with valuable customers, the last thing you want is for yours to be compromised and used to carry out criminal acts.

Securing your Facebook business account is an essential step if you’re doing business online today – and it’s just one part of an effective cybersecurity strategy.

Secure cloud storage is an excellent way to keep your confidential files safe in the cloud and out of the wrong hands. To learn more about our range of cloud storage solutions for businesses of all sizes, visit our product page today.

Hijacking Broken Hyperlinks – Cyberthreats

Cyberthreats hiding in plain sight – hijacking hyperlinks

Have you ever clicked on a link that takes you to a dead webpage or tried to type in your bank’s URL and found yourself on a phishing website?

Link hijacking is a technique that cybercriminals use to direct website visors to malicious pages on the internet.

As a business owner, you’ll want to ensure that your website is safe from this tactic, but first let’s find out how it works and how it can be avoided

Broken links are like broken windows for cybercrime

Even the smallest gap in your cybersecurity can give hackers the entry point they need to carry out an attack.

Just like the broken window of a building, which can allow burglars to enter more easily, broken links create the perfect opportunity for cybercriminals to compromise your company website.

Here is the typical pattern that this crime tends to follow:

Cybercriminals identify a link on your website that leads to a defunct webpage.
If the webpage hosting has expired, they may purchase it and populate it with potentially harmful links that visitors will assume are a legitimate part of your website.

The end game of link hijacking is to steal internet traffic and lead it to a site that cannot only carry out malware or ransomware attacks, but could also compromise the credibility of your business.

How many broken links are there on the internet?

You might think that broken links are only an issue for poorly maintained websites, but research has shown that the issue is far more common than that.

Recent research shows that more than 500,000 websites online are phantom domains created by cybercriminals.

Given the frequency of this problem, it’s essential to check your own site for the presence of broken links without delay and take measures to correct them.

How to fix broken links for added security

Checking your website for problematic links is easy to achieve with a website scanner or broken link detector.

Once you identify links that lead nowhere, you should remove them from the main site or update the link that they redirect to with a secure webpage.
Ensure that your redirection service and file hosting providers are above board and offer excellent customer support.

To avoid impersonation sites with a slight alteration of your URL spelling, you may want to register several domains – with the different variations included in them – so that they can’t fall into the wrong hands.

Keep your business safe online with secure cloud storage

Protecting your business from link hijacking is just one step that forms part of a comprehensive cybersecurity plan.

Secure cloud storage is the most effective way to keep your data safe offsite and out of the clutches of criminals. Our range of secure backup packages offer peace of mind along with the efficiency of automated encrypted file management.

Digital Wallets – Pay to Go

Setting Digital Wallet Tap Limits

Digital wallets promised to end our reliance on cash but are they becoming easy pickings for fraudsters?

The pay-to-go experience is convenient, especially as institutions integrate the technology into their payment systems and banks launch card taps and virtual payment apps that allow purchases with a single tap. However, there’s an indisputable risk involved: losing your hard-earned money to cybercriminals.

Let’s take a look at how cashless payments can be exploited by criminals and how you can set digital wallet tap limits to stay safe.

Don’t let fraudsters raid your digital wallet

South Africa continues to transition from a cash-based economy to one that uses contactless payment solutions. The great hope for this technology was that paying with a single tap would remove the need to carry cash and reduce the risk of losing cash to criminals.

Unfortunately, local criminals have been getting creative and finding ways to steal digital money as well as the paper variety.

A typical scenario resulting in fraud using services like Apple Pay is as follows:

Waiting in line for your goods to be rung up by the cashier, you take out your phone and prepare your payment app for a single payment. You think you’ve done just that, but after you leave the shop, it turns out that you’ve paid for both your item and somebody else’s – and that person is already long gone.

Criminals are finding ingenious ways to trick customers into tapping twice, sometimes with the help of employees who are in on the scam. This is especially worrying because many banks set relatively high automatic limits on contactless payments – with R10 000 being fairly common.

If criminals manage to gain access to your tap and go device, they could drain your account in an hour or less, and it’s even easier when you are using the card tap functionality.

How to use contactless payment services and lower your risk

Reduce your payment limits. Most customers will find that R 1000 to R2 000 per transaction should be sufficient to pay for small purchases.
Receive instant notifications and wait for them. Don’t leave the counter until you’ve received a notification of the amount that has been deducted.
Watch out for suspicious transactions. If you notice a payment that you didn’t make or multiple payments of the same amount, contact your bank immediately to stop your card.
Disable the tap functionality on your card. Certain banks allow customers to disable the card tap function which can then only be used when you insert it into the machine and enter a PIN.

A holistic approach to online security has become essential as criminals find new and creative ways to steal both money and data. Our range of secure cloud storage solutions will help keep your business information safely encrypted. Browse our range of packages to secure your valuable files today.

Soteria’s Flexible Options for Cloud Backup | Real-Time Cloud Backup

How to schedule your backups with ease

Backing up your important data couldn’t be more essential at a time when cybercriminals are unleashing increasingly sophisticated attacks on businesses across the country.

Cyber attacks on SA’s government departments have been particularly malicious in recent months with the Companies and Intellectual property Commission (CIPC) the latest victim of a security compromise, likely a result of under investment in the right security systems.

But for many business owners, the backup process remains a mystery, especially when it comes to scheduling and execution.

To help you keep your company’s data safe in the cloud, we’d like to cover the flexible options for cloud backup and highlight why scheduling correctly will help you manage your data effectively without using up too much storage.

Backups are a lifesaver when cybercriminals strike

If you’ve been following the news recently, you may be worried that a cyberattack could compromise your access to company data – and you’d be right to worry. Cyberattacks continued to plague South Africa in 2023 and criminals are only getting smarter; 28% of attacks against smart devices in Africa originated in SA last year according to Kaspersky.

One of the tactics that cybercriminals use to extort their victims is the threat of permanently deleting or corrupting files that the company needs in order to function.
An explanation for why companies agree to pay the ransom could be because the most recent backup they have is too old and they genuinely can’t do without the files that are being held hostage.

But all of this can be avoided with regular backups.

Best flexible options for cloud backup to give for peace of mind and efficiency

It makes sense that your business needs to have the most recent version of its files saved in the cloud, but how recent is recent enough?

Files that are updated daily should be backed up daily, and ditto for those that are updated weekly and monthly.
However, tracking the frequency of file updates can be a nightmare.
It’s best to update all your files as often as possible so that frequently changing documents will still be up to date if you need to restore them

A daily backup can be easily scheduled with our streamlined backup system options.

Your data will automatically move to the cloud in encrypted form and you can choose to overwrite older versions of files to save storage space – especially if your business uses a large amount of data for its storage each month.

If you do need more storage as your business grows, our flexible cloud backup options will let you size up your storage as and when you need it.

To learn more about our secure cloud storage packages for businesses, visit our product page today.

New Job Post New Target | Hackers

LinkedIn Privacy – Don’t Let Your New Job Post be a New Target for Hackers

LinkedIn is a fantastic social network for connecting with colleagues and industry associates, but posting about your latest new job on the platform could make you a target for cybercrime.

Here’s a brief overview of the current threats on LinkedIn and how to keep your profile secure.

Cybercriminals targeting professionals on LinkedIn

The excitement of getting a new job is something we all like to share with our social network – but unfortunately they aren’t the only ones looking at our LinkedIn profiles.

A new wave of cybercrimes using LinkedIn is on the rise with professionals around the world wishing for the days when their most annoying connection requests came from pushy recruiters.

Today, hackers and cybercriminals are tracking professionals who have started new jobs and using the information they gather to carry out impersonation scams.

The typical MO of a LinkedIn impersonation scam goes like this:

The new employee who has recently joined a company receives an email from their boss or supervisor, requesting that they make an unexpected purchase or funds transfer.
Not wanting to make a bad impression on the boss, many overly trusting people will follow the instructions as given – only to find that their actual manager knows nothing about the request.

In reality, the person who sent the email was simply impersonating a senior member of the company after researching both the employee’s and manager’s details on LinkedIn. This double violation of privacy has cost workers in various countries a small fortune – and you certainly don’t want it happening in your organisation.

As online scams escalate, privacy protection is non-negotiable

Protecting your LinkedIn profile from unwanted eyes – and ensuring that everyone in your company does the same – is an essential first step when it comes to avoiding these LinkedIn scams that are becoming more and more common.

Employees should be guided to not accept connection requests from people they don’t know and have never interacted with before.
The onboarding process is an ideal opportunity to educate your team on the importance of verifying that emails are legitimate and have been sent from one of the company’s official email addresses before following instructions.

Online scams and other cyberthreats are a reality that every business needs to prepare for. To secure your confidential data and enjoy peace of mind, browse our range of secure cloud storage solutions today.

WhatsApp scams Increase | Apps

Watch out for new WhatsApp scams

Most people these days use WhatsApp to stay in touch, and work teams frequently communicate with colleagues using the popular app.

Unfortunately, cybercriminals keep finding ways of impersonating WhatsApp contacts and that could lead to serious financial losses for unsuspecting victims.

We have posted before about the dangers of Whatsapp scams and it seems like fraudsters keep getting smarter, coming up with new ways of causing trouble using the app to pose as friends, relatives, managers, and business entities.

Here’s what to look out for as a WhatsApp user in 2023.

That message from the boss? Check that it’s not fake

The latest WhatsApp scam going around the country involves messages that sound like they’re from your boss or manager.

In reality, these communications are the work of criminals bent on defrauding your company.

If you receive a message claiming to be from your manager or another senior member of staff, it’s essential to verify that the person who sent it is really who they say they are.
A message of any kind from an unknown number, asking you to make a purchase or transfer funds, should raise a flag and be regarded as suspicious until such time as you have verified the sender.
Receiving a “help, I’m in trouble” message from someone claiming to be a colleague can be alarming, but before you fire up your banking app to assist them, it’s essential to verify their identity – preferably with a phone call.

Despite online security measures, there’s no denying that a big part of our lives are public knowledge nowadays – and cybercriminals are more than capable of researching a company and identifying its managers and team members to carry out these kinds of attacks.

Beware of fake business accounts

If you receive an exciting message offering you a brand new product or service – especially a premium offering like luxury goods at a price that’s too good to be true – you could be dealing with a fake WhatsApp business account.

Mobile phone users have been conned out of thousands of Rands after responding to messages from fake businesses and paying for products that never materialise.

As with the impersonation scams above, there are several ways to stay safe and avoid cybercriminals that are simple yet effective:

Reduce the risk by restricting your shared information on WhatsApp.
Avoid being added to groups automatically by restricting your profile.
Treat WhatsApp with the same protocol as email – don’t click on unknown links, don’t forward content and double check everything.
Introduce a WhatsApp policy for your business and ensure staff are educated about new security threats.

What’s the one thing can you trust online? Secure cloud storage

Keeping your data safe has become the new challenge for business owners in SA. Our encrypted backup solutions are your best weapon in the fight against cybercrime.

Browse our range of secure cloud storage packages today to safeguard your company information.