Cisco Falls Victim to Voice Phishing Attack

An unfortunate security breach occurred when a Cisco representative was targeted by a voice phishing attack. This incident enabled attackers to download user data from a third-party Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system.

Cisco's investigation revealed that the stolen data included basic account details like names, organization names, addresses, Cisco user IDs, email addresses, phone numbers, and additional account metadata such as creation dates. Fortunately, no confidential information, passwords, or sensitive data were exposed.

Phishing attacks, particularly via voice calls, have become a principal strategy for ransomware groups and other cybercriminals to penetrate the defenses of even the most secure organizations. These attackers use emails, voice calls, push notifications, and text messages to mimic authentic internal communication methods.

Notably, companies such as Microsoft, Okta, Nvidia, Globant, Twilio, and Twitter, have all fallen victim to similar attacks. Although security measures like multi-factor authentication, adhering to the FIDO standard, help counteract these attacks, it's crucial for organizations to continuously evolve their defense strategies. The FIDO's cryptographic keys, tied to the service's domain name, offer substantial protection against spoofed phishing sites.

However, because FIDO is relatively new, many organizations still provide alternative authentication solutions. The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency offers guidelines to help guard against phishing threats, recommending FIDO Multi-Factor Authentication as a robust defense strategy.