Check out the last week of Cybersecurity Awareness Month. Congratulations to our bonus winner Toni Brady!

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Cybersecurity Awareness Month Comes to a Close: Week 4 Winner + Bonus Winner!

Thanks to everyone who participated in our Cybersecurity Awareness Challenges. We had a lot of fun bringing these to you, and your enthusiasm was catching. 

• 250 of you submitted the quiz this week. 
• Close to 46% of you (104 total) achieved a perfect score!
• Congratulations to this week’s top performers — click here for the leaderboard.

U.S. team members: We have a winner! We drew a name from all U.S. team members who got 15 answers correct. The winner of this week’s $50 BW merchandise card is Patrick Hilger, BWFS Project Manager, Commercial, located in Minnesota. A member of the IT Communications and Strategic Support team will be in touch with details.   

For U.S. team members only, every submission was a chance to win in our final drawing. Congratulations to Toni Brady, Global Payroll Director for BW Corporate, located in Missouri. Toni will also win a $50 BW merchandise card. A member of the IT Communications and Strategic Support team will be in touch with details! 

Smishing Awareness: Protect Yourself From Text Message Scams

Smishing attacks are scams that use deceptive text (SMS) messages to trick you into giving away personal information or clicking on malicious links. These types of attacks can lead to all types of issues, from financial loss to identity theft. It is important to be aware of scammers' techniques and how to protect yourself. 

Smishing attacks can be highly personalized scams. In the past, several Barry-Wehmiller team members have reported receiving scam messages that appear to have been sent by BW leaders, including Bob Chapman. Often in those cases, bad actors have targeted mobile phone numbers found through various websites. They then marry those up with a users’ personally identifiable information (PII) from networking platforms like LinkedIn, as well as social media sites, and then target their victims based on the employment details they’ve posted to LinkedIn. 

Notice the grammar mistakes and the sense of urgency in this malicious SMS text message that was received by a team member. It was sent by a bad actor posing as Bob Chapman. 

What should I do if I get a text message I suspect is a smishing attempt?

• Stop, look and think before you provide confidential information, return a phone call, text back or take any other action. Look for red flags, such as misspellings, grammar errors and a sense of urgency. 
• Consider if the type of text message is out of character for the sender.
• To verify the validity of the text message, contact the sender through an alternate method, such as a BW email address, a Microsoft Teams message, a verified business or personal phone number (not the one in the text message), or in person.
• If you determine the text message is malicious, delete it and block the phone number.

Source: 

A Growing Goldmine: Your LinkedIn Data Abused For Cybercrime. Veronica Chierzi and Mayra Rosario Fuentes. Trend Business. March 28, 2023. https://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/us/security/news/cybercrime-and-digital-threats/a-growing-goldmine-your-linkedin-data-abused-for-cybercrime#

Thank you for joining us for Cybersecurity Awareness Month! And, as always, thank you for your commitment to keeping Barry-Wehmiller’s data and your personal information safe.