Client Profile

Issue

Email phishing can provide outside parties an entry point to sensitive information. A bank enlisted CBIZ MHM to test its email security protocol and determine if the procedures offered adequate protection.

Solution

Our social engineering team designed a website that mirrored the bank’s website and registered a domain name that was similar to the bank’s. We sent an email to employees asking them to access a new human resources vacation request system by clicking the link to the false website.

To log in to the website, employees were asked to provide their Windows username and password. More than 40% of employees who received the email clicked the link and provided their complete login credentials. Some employees forwarded the email to others who were not part of the test.

We reviewed our findings with bank management and provided a report that included the results of the social engineering exercise, the severity of the risks found and recommendations for how to improve training related to email phishing threats.

Outcome

Email phishing is one of the most common precursors to a large scale data breach, which can cost organizations up to $150 per compromised record. The high participation rate in the test indicated that the bank had a serious weakness with its email security. Our recommendations helped the bank mitigate the potential risk and expense of a breach and address some of its larger cybersecurity threats.

Mitigating Your Risks

Learn more about how our team’s comprehensive social engineering assessments help you mitigate threats to your information security.

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CBIZ MHM is the brand name for CBIZ MHM, LLC, a national professional services company providing tax, financial advisory and consulting services to individuals, tax-exempt organizations and a wide range of publicly-traded and privately-held companies. CBIZ MHM, LLC is a fully owned subsidiary of CBIZ, Inc. (NYSE: CBZ).