While no specific names were included, a new report pointed to CEOs of U.S. companies as a primary target of a new phishing scheme. Here, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos speaks about a recent development by Blue Origin, the space company he founded. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Cybercriminals have been using a phishing kit featuring fake Office 365 password alerts as a lure to target the credentials of chief executives, business owners and other high-level corporate leaders. The scheme highlights the role and responsibility upper management plays in ensuring the security of their own company's assets.

In a blog post on Monday, researchers from Trend Micro reported that they uncovered 70 email addresses that have been targeted with the so-called "Office 365 V4 phishing kit" since May 2020, 40 of which belong to “CEOs, directors, owners and founders, among other enterprise employee[s].”

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Topics:

Cybercrime Email Security Phishing