Cybercrime , Fraud Management & Cybercrime , Governance & Risk Management

Hacked With Words: Email Attack Sophistication Surges

Barracuda's Michael Flouton on Social Engineering, Account Takeover and More
Michael Flouton, vice president of email protection, Barracuda Networks

Ask 10 email users if the use of email as an attack vector has stopped, and all 10 would surely agree: No way. "It's insidious because email just works; these attacks continue to be effective," says Michael Flouton of Barracuda Networks. "And it's really just related to our natural curiosity and humanity's willingness to take risks and click on things and explore new opportunities."

See Also: Best Practices to Protect Communication and Email Fraud with Technology

But the early days of email attacks - so much noise in the form of malware, spam and links - have given way to attacks that often rely on little more than words, and email gateways often struggle to arrest these types of social engineering ploys, he says.

In a video interview at the recent Infosecurity Europe conference, Flouton discusses:

  • The growing volume and sophistication of email-based attacks;
  • The latest social engineering and account takeover trends;
  • Best practices for arresting email-borne attacks.

Flouton is vice president of email protection for Barracuda Networks. A security industry veteran with more than 15 years of experience, Flouton previously was vice president of worldwide product marketing for commercial solutions at BAE Systems. He joined BAE Systems through its acquisition of cloud security pioneer SilverSky, where he was vice president of marketing.


About the Author

Mathew J. Schwartz

Mathew J. Schwartz

Executive Editor, DataBreachToday & Europe, ISMG

Schwartz is an award-winning journalist with two decades of experience in magazines, newspapers and electronic media. He has covered the information security and privacy sector throughout his career. Before joining Information Security Media Group in 2014, where he now serves as the executive editor, DataBreachToday and for European news coverage, Schwartz was the information security beat reporter for InformationWeek and a frequent contributor to DarkReading, among other publications. He lives in Scotland.




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