Spammers Targeting CEOs

from the sneaky,-sneaky dept

Apparently, late last week there was a well-coordinated spam attack directed at senior executives at various companies. The spam was personally addressed to CEOs, CIOs and CFOs among others, and contained an attachment to what was supposed to be an invoice, but what was actually a trojan horse program to hide on the network. The purpose, obviously, is corporate espionage, but it’s interesting to see that spammers figure that the higher up they aim, the more likely they are to get a hit — especially with the various stories about senior execs at big companies who still don’t quite understand how email works. Of course, it’s not clear that anyone has actually fallen for this yet — so it’s unclear if the targeting is effective (or if we’d ever know if it turned out to work). In the meantime, it is interesting to see spam scams become increasingly more sophisticated (and personalized).


Rate this comment as insightful
Rate this comment as funny
You have rated this comment as insightful
You have rated this comment as funny
Flag this comment as abusive/trolling/spam
You have flagged this comment
The first word has already been claimed
The last word has already been claimed
Insightful Lightbulb icon Funny Laughing icon Abusive/trolling/spam Flag icon Insightful badge Lightbulb icon Funny badge Laughing icon Comments icon

Comments on “Spammers Targeting CEOs”

Subscribe: RSS Leave a comment
10 Comments
Overcast says:

Yeah, most CEO’s are quite brainless when it comes to technology. Not all – but many will just say “I don’t care what you do, I just need my email to work”.

Then the rest of the damn IT department devotes 3 employees to making sure the CEO never gets spam while he visits porn sites half the day.

And yes – I’m speaking from experience 😛

Add Your Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Have a Techdirt Account? Sign in now. Want one? Register here

Comment Options:

Make this the or (get credits or sign in to see balance) what's this?

What's this?

Techdirt community members with Techdirt Credits can spotlight a comment as either the "First Word" or "Last Word" on a particular comment thread. Credits can be purchased at the Techdirt Insider Shop »

Follow Techdirt

Techdirt Daily Newsletter

Ctrl-Alt-Speech

A weekly news podcast from
Mike Masnick & Ben Whitelaw

Subscribe now to Ctrl-Alt-Speech »
Techdirt Deals
Techdirt Insider Discord
The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...
Loading...