Company News
Sharon Nelson Quoted in ABA Journal
March 20, 2018
Recently, Sensei’s Sharon Nelson was quoted in “Cyberthreats 101: The biggest computer crime risks lawyers face” by Mary Ellen Egan of the ABA Journal. The ABA Journal is read by half of the nation’s 1 million lawyers every month. It covers the trends, people and finances of the legal profession from Wall Street to Main Street to Pennsylvania Avenue.
Excerpt: A whale phishing attack happens when the email is made to look like it comes from a managing partner or other senior executives. In one instance, says Jody Westby, CEO of Global Cyber Risk, hackers posing as a CEO sent a request for 1099s and W2 files to employees in a human resources department. Unfortunately, the files were sent and personal data was stolen by the hackers. “Before you respond, you have to ask yourself if it’s unusual for you to receive a direct email from a high-level executive,” she says. “If it’s an unusual request, report it to IT.”
Sharon Nelson, president of Sensei Enterprises, a digital forensics and cybersecurity company, says hackers have gotten smarter and more sophisticated in their attempts. “You used to see misspellings and poor grammar,” she says. “But now they hire English speakers and do their research on LinkedIn. They’ll know things like Andrew, the CEO, goes by Andy.”
Nelson also says the cybercriminal may phish both firms involved in a lawsuit. In one instance, one firm knew it was under attack but didn’t tell the other side. The uninformed firm received a fake email that changed the wiring instructions for a settlement, and it unwittingly paid settlement money to cybercriminals.