Research | Our Q3 report details what's new in the world of ransomware.
Reduce Alert Noise and False Positives
Boost your team's productivity by cutting down alert noise and false positives.
Automate Security Operations
Boost efficiency, reduce burnout, and better manage risk through automation.
Dark Web Monitoring
Online protection tuned to the need of your business.
Maximize Existing Security Investments
Improve efficiencies from existing investments in security tools.
Beyond MDR
Move your security operations beyond the limitations of MDR.
Secure with Microsoft 365 E5
Boost the power of Microsoft 365 E5 security.
Secure Multi-Cloud Environments
Improve cloud security and overcome complexity across multi-cloud environments.
Secure Mergers and Acquisitions
Control cyber risk for business acquisitions and dispersed business units.
Operational Technology
Solve security operations challenges affecting critical operational technology (OT) infrastructure.
Force-Multiply Your Security Operations
Whether you’re just starting your security journey, need to up your game, or you’re not happy with an existing service, we can help you to achieve your security goals.
Detection Investigation Response
Modernize Detection, Investigation, Response with a Security Operations Platform.
Threat Hunting
Locate and eliminate lurking threats with ReliaQuest GreyMatter
Threat Intelligence
Find cyber threats that have evaded your defenses.
Model Index
Security metrics to manage and improve security operations.
Breach and Attack Simulation
GreyMatter Verify is ReliaQuest’s automated breach and attack simulation capability.
Digital Risk Protection
Continuous monitoring of open, deep, and dark web sources to identify threats.
Phishing Analyzer
GreyMatter Phishing Analyzer removes the abuse mailbox management by automating the DIR process for you.
Integration Partners
The GreyMatter cloud-native Open XDR platform integrates with a fast-growing number of market-leading technologies.
Unify and Optimize Your Security Operations
ReliaQuest GreyMatter is a security operations platform built on an open XDR architecture and designed to help security teams increase visibility, reduce complexity, and manage risk across their security tools, including on-premises, clouds, networks, and endpoints.
Blog
Company Blog
Case Studies
Brands of the world trust ReliaQuest to achieve their security goals.
Data Sheets
Learn how to achieve your security outcomes faster with ReliaQuest GreyMatter.
eBooks
The latest security trends and perspectives to help inform your security operations.
Industry Guides and Reports
The latest security research and industry reports.
Podcasts
Catch up on the latest cybersecurity podcasts, and mindset moments from our very own mental performance coaches.
Solution Briefs
A deep dive on how ReliaQuest GreyMatter addresses security challenges.
Threat Advisories
The latest threat research report from ReliaQuest Threat Research research team.
White Papers
The latest white papers focused on security operations strategy, technology & insight.
Videos
Current and future SOC trends presented by our security experts.
Events & Webinars
Explore all upcoming company events, in-person and on-demand webinars
ReliaQuest ResourceCenter
From prevention techniques to emerging security trends, our comprehensive library can arm you with the tools you need to improve your security posture.
Threat Research
Get the latest threat analysis from the ReliaQuest Threat Research Team. ReliaQuest ShadowTalk Weekly podcast featuring discussions on the latest cybersecurity news and threat research.
Shadow Talk
ReliaQuest's ShadowTalk is a weekly podcast featuring discussions on the latest cybersecurity news and threat research. ShadowTalk's hosts come from threat intelligence, threat hunting, security research, and leadership backgrounds providing practical perspectives on the week's top cybersecurity stories.
November 30, 2023
About ReliaQuest
We bring our best attitude, energy and effort to everything we do, every day, to make security possible.
Leadership
Security is a team sport.
No Show Dogs Podcast
Mental Performance Coaches Derin McMains and Dr. Nicole Detling interview world-class performers across multiple industries.
Make It Possible
Make It Possible reflects our focus on bringing cybersecurity awareness to our communities and enabling the next generation of cybersecurity professionals.
Careers
Join our world-class team.
Press and Media Coverage
ReliaQuest newsroom covering the latest press release and media coverage.
Become a Channel Partner
When you partner with ReliaQuest, you help deliver world-class cybersecurity solutions.
Contact Us
How can we help you?
A Mindset Like No Other in the Industry
Many companies tout their cultures; at ReliaQuest, we share a mindset. We focus on four values every day to make security possible: being accountable, helpful, adaptable, and focused. These values drive development of our platform, relationships with our customers and partners, and further the ReliaQuest promise of security confidence across our customers and our own teams.
More results...
It’s been a tough few months for the healthcare industry (and for all of us in general). While we’ve reported on recent Q3 ransomware campaigns targeting the healthcare industry, a new campaign targeting COVID-19 vaccine supply chain partners has emerged.
Last week, IBM X-Force reported on a campaign targeting the healthcare industry seeking to capitalize on ongoing vaccine work. The threat actors launched a phishing campaign impersonating an executive from cold chain provider Haier Biomedical, an established member of the COVID-19 vaccine supply chain critical to transport logistics and distribution of the vaccine.
Impersonating a Haier Biomedical employee, the threat actors sent phishing emails to other organizations believed to be working on the vaccine storage and transportation supply chain. Targets included the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union, as well as companies pertaining to the energy, manufacturing, software, and internet security solutions sectors.
While it’s the intention of the threat actors is unknown, it’s clear that assuming the identity of a legitimate COVID-19 vaccine partner company and member of the Cold Chain Equipment Optimization Platform (CCEOP) increases the probability of an email opening and less suspicion around the sender’s authenticity. Impersonation is an incredibly common attacker tactic, both for financial and geopoliticial threat actor motives.
Executive impersonation is not a new tactic. As far back as 2016, the Financial Times estimated that $2 billion dollars had been lost CEO email scams. These scams typically succeed by targeting and intimidating lower-level employees to release sensitive data or transfer funds via time-pressured email requests. According to the 2020 FBI IC3 Report, Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks comprised the highest amount of reported financial loss, costing $1.8 billion in 2019 alone.
Worse still, the pandemic has provided more convincing lures and reasons for errant behavior. The FBI gave the following example from 2020:
A financial institution received an email allegedly from the CEO of a company, who had previously scheduled a transfer of $1 million, requesting that the transfer date be moved up and the recipient account be changed “due to the Coronavirus outbreak and quarantine processes and precautions.” The email address used by the fraudsters was almost identical to the CEO’s actual email address with only one letter changed.
But, as the IBM X-Force research shows, impersonation is about more than BEC fraud. Impersonating key individuals is also a proven technique for nation-state groups.
In August 2020, ClearSky reported the Iranian state-associated threat group APT35 (AKA Charming Kitten) have been using LinkedIn and WhatsApp messaging to approach their targets, often duping their victims into opening a malicious link.
More recently, at the end of November, AFP reported on fake Twitter accounts impersonating a Thai pro-democracy group with a highly convincing fake account shown below (simply swapping out the letter O for the number 0.
Beyond telling employees to scrutinize email senders and providing a “COVID-19 impersonating accounts” warning to customers, how can you better protect your brand?
Hundreds of organizations rely on Digital Shadows SearchLight (now ReliaQuest GreyMatter DRP)™ to detect both impersonating company profiles and impersonating employee profiles, with near real-time detection of impersonating domains, mobile apps, and accounts and a combination of our proprietary search engine and human analysts to eliminate false positives.
If you would like to learn more about how SearchLight (now ReliaQuest’s GreyMatter Digital Risk Protection) can help, read our Detecting Fake Social Media Profiles Case Study here.