Trend Micro Study Reveals Criminal Abuses Of Twitter

Social network used for scams and malice, as well as a threat intelligence source

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HONG KONG, CHINA - Media OutReach - 31 July 2019 - Trend Micro Incorporated (TYO: 4704; TSE: 4704),
a global leader in cybersecurity solutions, today announced a new study
revealing how cybercriminals are abusing Twitter via tech support scams,
command-and-control (C&C) operations and data exfiltration.

 

Trend Micro researchers analyzed a large volume of Twitter
data to identify relationships between various entities to spot anomalies and
uncover key insights.

 

“Social media is an inescapable part of modern life, and our
new research shines an important light on how it’s being used positively by the
security community, and abused by criminals,” said Mark Nunnikhoven, vice
president of cloud research for Trend Micro. “This research shows businesses
how the misuse of social networks can damage their brand, and it informs
consumers how they might be tricked into a scam from what is believed to be a
trusted source. We hope by making these abuses known, both businesses and
consumers can be vigilant to not become victims of such attacks.”

 

Criminals were found using fake Twitter accounts to spoof
those of legitimate vendors for credible tech support scams. Users call the
fake phone number provided, believing they are speaking with the intended
company’s help desk, which results in the caller either sharing credit card
information or installing malicious content on the their computer.

 

This is often part of a multi-platform strategy along with
YouTube, Facebook, Telegram and other channels to improve SEO for fake tech
support websites linked to the Twitter accounts, boosting their search
rankings.

 

While criminals are using the social network for bad, threat
researchers can  leverage the power of
social media for good. Most notably, Twitter is used for monitoring
vulnerability disclosures to inform patch prioritization, and scanning for
indicators of compromise, threat detection rules, and other contextual
information to boost threat intelligence.

 

Trend Micro recommends users confirm the validity of a
Twitter account by checking the company’s website directly, rather than through
the account. It is also important for security teams to validate Twitter data
when leveraging it for investigations or threat intelligence.

 

To read the full report, please visit: https://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/hk/security/news/cybercrime-and-digital-threats/hunting-threats-on-twitter.

 

About Trend Micro

Trend
Micro Incorporated, a global leader in cybersecurity solutions, helps to make
the world safe for exchanging digital information. Our innovative solutions for
consumers, businesses, and governments provide layered security for data centers,
cloud environments, networks, and endpoints. All our products work together to
seamlessly share threat intelligence and provide a connected threat defense
with centralized visibility and control, enabling better, faster protection.
With more than 6,000 employees in over 50 countries and the world’s most
advanced global threat intelligence, Trend Micro enables organizations to
secure their journey to the cloud. For
more information, visit www.trendmicro.com.hk.