You Need to Watch Out for Reply-Chain Phishing Attacks
- Nicole Baker

- Apr 22, 2023
- 4 min read
Updated: Jan 18

Phishing is a frequent method cybercriminals use to launch attacks. If you follow cybersecurity news, you’ll notice this topic comes up often because it’s still one of the biggest threats.
Cybercriminals use many strategies to reach their goals. They might steal employee login details with a phishing email, use ransomware for extortion, or plant spyware to get sensitive information.
During Covid-19, phishing campaigns increased sharply, which was a major concern.
Despite better security measures, phishing is still a big threat to businesses. Remote work has made this worse because home networks are often less secure than office ones. Employees may remain at risk for a while.
Despite warnings from cybersecurity experts, phishing continues to be a highly successful tactic for scammers. How can this still be the case when so many people are informed about recognizing and avoiding these malicious attempts?
Many people think they can spot phishing emails, but criminals keep changing their methods. As scams become harder to notice, it’s important to stay alert and careful when checking emails.
Scammers are getting more creative. One of the latest tactics is the reply-chain phishing attack, which can be very hard to detect.
Reply-chain phishing Attacks is becoming a bigger threat to online security.
Reply chains are common in digital conversations. As people respond, their messages are added to the thread, continuing the discussion that started with the first message.
As more people reply to an email thread, it becomes easier to follow the ongoing conversation.
It’s easy to relax during an ongoing email exchange, but cybercriminals are aware of this. Stay alert, even with familiar contacts, because a phishing email could be hidden in the conversation.
Reply-chain phishing attacks are tricky because they hide inside existing email threads, making the malicious message easy to trust and hard to spot.
Ever wonder how cybercriminals can infiltrate a secure system?
Ever wonder how hackers can see confidential conversations? By taking advantage of email chains, a hacker is able to gain unauthorized entry into accounts involved in the conversation.
If a hacker gets into one person’s account, all their private emails can become accessible.
The hacker can use an email address that the targets already know and trust. This helps them blend in with earlier replies and makes their message seem genuine.
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People replying to the email won’t notice anything suspicious in the message.
The message comes from a colleague’s email address that has already been part of the conversation.
It may sound natural and reference items in the discussion.
The email might use personalization, such as addressing people by name, based on what the hacker has seen in the reply chain.
Business Email Compromise (BEC) is becoming more common.
With the rise of data breaches, weak passwords and unsecured logins have made Business Email Compromise (BEC) a serious threat. Companies must work to protect their customers’ emails from cyber criminals who are eager to take advantage of vulnerable systems in order to gain accessor commit fraud.
In 2021, 77% of organizations were victims of business email compromise attacks, up from 65% in 2020.
Companies face the growing threat of credential theft, which can lead to serious data breaches. Taking action now is important to protect your company from unauthorized access to email accounts.
Hackers are creative in their approach to Business Email Compromise (BEC) scams by using the reply-chain technique. Instead of just attempting a single attack, they take advantage of continued conversations to send malicious ransomware or steal sensitive data and sell it on the Dark Web for quick profits.
Don’t get caught in the web of phishing scams
Protect your organization from phishing scams by following these preventive steps.
Use a reliable password manager to keep your business secure.
Single Sign-On (SSO) is an effective way to protect employee data. It prevents password reuse across multiple applications and boosts security by removing the need to remember weak passwords.
Improve your email security by using multi-factor authentication.
How can we protect our email logins from unexpected IP addresses? Implementing a system challenge that requires verification, such as entering an authentication code or answering a security question, could be the key to safeguarding accounts and preventing compromises.
Provide employees with the tools they need to stay safe.
To protect yourself from email attacks, stay vigilant and watch for any suspicious behavior. Even skilled hackers can make mistakes, and one error may help you spot an attack.
Is your email account safe from prying eyes?
Is your business email protected from potential threats? Make sure your data is safe by investing in our strong security solutions. Our team can provide the extra protection you need. Contact us today for a free consultation.




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