Black Arrow Cyber Advisory 09/02/2023 – Reminder of Heightened Risk of Phishing Campaigns Taking Advantage of Tragic Events

Executive Summary

Following the recent tragic events in Turkey and Syria this is a reminder that whenever there are catastrophes, natural disasters or other notable or particularly newsworthy events malicious actors will take advantage of these events to push related phishing emails or launch other attacks.

What’s the risk to me or my business?

Threat actors will take advantage of events of this nature, often to try to exploit the good nature and charitable intentions of people and organisations. Each event creates opportunities for threat actors to conduct phishing campaigns. These campaigns can include impersonation of those impact, smishing (SMS phishing), fake charitable pages, malicious links within emails and much more.

What can I do?

We recommend staying extra vigilant. This can be done by verifying charities and or companies through official websites, verifying phone numbers for charities, avoiding suspicious links in emails and checking individuals are who they claim to be.

Information on registered UK charities can be found here: https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-search/