Phishing attempt against 4TU.Resilience Engineering

Phishing attempt against 4TU.Resilience Engineering

Over the Ascension weekend we detected a targeted phishing attempt against the 4TU.RE community. A random email address was created in the name of Tina Comes. This email address used a signature similar to our 4TU.RE newsletter footer, which is not her actual email signature. As far as we can tell, a message to contact her has been sent to members of the 4TU.RE community who have a profile on our website. 

We are currently investigating the possibility that non-public information belonging to members of our community may have been accessed by malicious actors. If there has been an inadvertent data breach, we will communicate with our community accordingly.

We sincerely hope that no one is harmed by this attempt. As a community, we are resilient to these types of attacks.

Please remain vigilant against phishing attempts:

1.       Recognize the signs of phishing

Look out for unfamiliar greetings, errors in signatures, unsolicited messages, grammar errors, and a sense of urgency. As was the case in the phishing attempt in the past weekend.

Be cautious if an email requests personal information or contains suspicious links or attachments. Don’t open attachments and don’t click on hyperlinks. You can hover your mouse over hyperlinks to see where they might lead, random hyperlinks are a clear sign of a phishing attempt.

2.       Don’t respond to phishing emails

Avoid replying to suspicious messages. Responding confirms your active email address to scammers.

Instead, report the email to your IT department at your institution.

3.       Report suspicious messages

Report the email to your IT department at your institution.

Report the email as phishing or spam in your email programme.

4.       Don’t open links or attachments

Be cautious when clicking on links or downloading files from unknown sources.

Hover over links to check their legitimacy before clicking.

5.       Use strong passwords and enable two-factor authentication

Secure your accounts with robust passwords and an extra layer of protection.

6.       Stay informed

Keep up-to-date with security awareness training and anti-phishing add-ons.