In the recent outage that occurred in the global IT sector due to a faulty update by the cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, cyber security watchdogs all over the world warned users about the possibility of phishing scams aimed at capturing their online assets.
The fraudsters can phish your details by posing themselves as cybersecurity experts from CrowdStrike offering to help you out of the recent IT outage.
George Kurtz, the CEO of CrowdStrike also warned internet users to beware of such attempts by malicious hackers.
Microsoft said that the massive consequence of the faulty cybersecurity update, which affected over 8.5 million devices built on the Windows operating system, will see a manifold increase if phishing scams tighten their stronghold on top of the damages already occurred.
The said IT outage is still causing havoc all over the world and the beneficiaries of the software services like even the global airline ecosystem and hospitality sector can be affected by the phishing scams if adequate care is not taken.
Such an attack would be of massive proportions and cause serious misrepresentations and data theft all over the world.
Cybersecurity guardians of all major countries such as the US, UK, and Australia issued separate warnings in this regard as the aftermath of one of the largest outages in the history of Microsoft. The outage was so large that it is sure to cause continued ramifications for an extended period.
The Australian Cybersecurity Centre, the government agency that deals with such matters has found that many malicious actors and faulty, unofficial codes released over the weekend by fraudsters posing as experts in the area willing to help those affected by the outage.
The Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency, which is based in the US has unveiled many incidents of unauthorized activities such as the distribution of faulty zip archive files, aimed at CrowdStrike users in Latin America.
The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre warned that both individuals and organizations should be equally aware of the phishing scams based on the global IT outage and should find ways to tackle the potential loss caused by these scams.
More about the IT Outage
The recent outage of about 8.5 million Windows devices due to a software patch problem by the cybersecurity company CrowdStrike was the biggest in the history of IT outages, which continues to cause problems worldwide.
CrowdStrike has claimed that the services of a majority of affected devices and networks have been restored, but the drop in business caused over the weekend will have long-standing adverse effects on the global scenario.
Airline traffic was disrupted in many parts of the world, with airports unable to access information about passengers and air traffic control being affected. Many flights were canceled and passenger services were struck badly.
Another major sector that was affected by the outage was the global healthcare system. In many places, the process of patient information data retrieval encountered significant problems.
The British medical authorities opined that even though the network disruption was temporary and was restored to a large extent, the outage would result in a significant backlog of inpatient services.
Hospitals and other clinics would require more time to resume their normal working. The National Health Service of the UK reassured the patients that normal patient consultations would continue unless anything unpleasant occurred.
The outage was a significant breach of trust in the services of CrowdStrike and would require immediate resolution to regain the trust on the part of the customers.
The CEO of CrowdStrike assured its customers that utmost transparency would be maintained in the explanations about the causes of the outage and the remedial measures taken.
Also, Read: 10 Top Cybersecurity Trends In 2024
The Bottom Line
In the online world, fraudsters and scammers are always on the lookout for an opportunity to lure genuine users to their network, and such mishaps as the recent IT outage will be used by them to trick users by exploiting their vulnerability.
Users should be aware and vigilant about these attacks and should be careful about whom they confide their personal details to, in the online space.
Further, any suspected attempts at phishing or other scams, if noticed, should be reported to the concerned authorities.
