Exploit: Spear phishing attack
Ocala City: Local municipality
Risk to Small Business: 1.666 = Severe: A spear phishing attack convinced an Ocala City employee to transfer $640,000 to a fraudulent bank account. The account still had $110,000 left when the city identified the scam, but cybercriminals still walked away with over $500,000. To trick the employee, cybercriminals sent an email purportedly from one of the city’s construction contractors and requested payment to a bank account that did not belong to the contractor. While the email and bank account were fraudulent, the invoice was legitimate, which made this incident especially difficult to detect.
Individual Risk: No personal information was compromised in the breach.
Customers Impacted: Unknown
How it Could Affect Your Customers’ Business: Spear phishing attacks are highly targeted and can be difficult for employees to identify. However, as more data becomes available to bad actors, businesses need to plan for this reality, training employees to spot small differences that often reveal a threat. The Ocala City tells a cautionary tale that failing to adjust to today’s threats can be an expensive mistake.
Risk Levels:
1 - 1.5 = Extreme Risk
1.51 - 2.49 = Severe Risk
2.5 - 3 = Moderate Risk
*The risk score is calculated using a formula that considers a wide range of factors related to the assessed breach.
