When you think of phishing, you probably think of ransomware (which you should). And when you think of ransomware, you probably think about money (which you should). The money the hackers are trying to get as a ransom.

There’s no doubt that most phishing attacks, either directly or indirectly, are about money. But not all. According to an article on KnowBe4, “Universities worldwide are the target of phishing attacks by a hacking group aimed at stealing research and intellectual property.

From the article, “The Iranian hacker group dubbed Cobalt Dickens has hit over 60 universities around the globe attempting to steal credentials to provide access to sensitive data. The latest string of phishing attacks, according to security researchers at SecureWorks, is squarely focused on attempting to fool university users into providing credentials.”

It’s not surprising that nation states are behind phishing attacks to steal sensitive information. This type of espionage has been going on long before the email came along. Email just makes it faster, easier and more anonymously.

Other than targeting university personnel, the phishing attack is pretty run of the mill. There’s a link to a fake login page that looks real, and once the victim offers up their credentials, they are passed to the real website.

“According to SecureWorks, there are no signs that this attack is stopping anytime soon. So, universities should take immediate measures to better secure access to university resources by students and faculty.” One such measure is to implement university-wide anti-phishing software which can protect every email account in the system. And the best way to do that is with PhishProtection.

We provide real-time link click protection, display name spoofing protection, domain name spoofing protection, malicious attachment blocking and smart quarantine. In other words, we stop phishing attacks dead in their tracks.

Our services work with all email hosts, sets up in 10 minutes, cost just pennies per account per month and come with 24/7 live technical support. If you work for a university, or even if you don’t, you can protect yourself from phishing attacks with PhishProtection.