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study: Business Email Compromise (BEC) attack nearly cost us millions",{"items":230},[231],{"fullName":232,"firstName":233,"jobTitle":234,"profilePicture":235},"Tyrone Erasmus","Tyrone","Co-founder / CTO",{"url":236},"https://images.ctfassets.net/y1cdw1ablpvd/5rkMblymL7lG4pZBiYzWo6/26f0da21be8fc252b13b62aacc22d19d/Push_Founders_at_Cahoots_October_28_2022_by_Doug_Coombe-22.jpg",{"json":238,"links":346},{"data":239,"content":240,"nodeType":345},{},[241,250,254,261,268,277,284,291,298,305,312,318,325,331,338],{"data":242,"content":243,"nodeType":249},{},[244],{"data":245,"marks":246,"value":247,"nodeType":248},{},[],"The following is a personal account from the owner of an engineering consulting and projects company of how a Business Email Compromise (BEC) attack played out against his company, almost costing them millions.","text","paragraph",{"data":251,"content":252,"nodeType":253},{},[],"hr",{"data":255,"content":256,"nodeType":249},{},[257],{"data":258,"marks":259,"value":260,"nodeType":248},{},[],"It started with a phone call from one of our customers. They wanted to make a payment to us and asked to confirm that our banking details had changed. They had not. Our customer explained they had received another email from us after our original invoice, stating that our banking details had changed.",{"data":262,"content":263,"nodeType":249},{},[264],{"data":265,"marks":266,"value":267,"nodeType":248},{},[],"So many questions ran through my mind. I assured them our details had not changed and asked them to send me the email that they had received.",{"data":269,"content":275,"nodeType":276},{"target":270},{"sys":271},{"id":272,"type":273,"linkType":274},"7oS3I99lcdKeHo0a4SM7f2","Link","Entry",[],"embedded-entry-block",{"data":278,"content":279,"nodeType":249},{},[280],{"data":281,"marks":282,"value":283,"nodeType":248},{},[],"There it was. It even had our company logo and signature at the bottom.",{"data":285,"content":286,"nodeType":249},{},[287],{"data":288,"marks":289,"value":290,"nodeType":248},{},[],"We didn't know how the attacker got access to that email account and we assumed they were logging in and reading emails. So we changed the password on the affected email account and moved on.",{"data":292,"content":293,"nodeType":249},{},[294],{"data":295,"marks":296,"value":297,"nodeType":248},{},[],"A day later, the attacker followed up again with the customer and we got another phone call. After having a really difficult conversation, we had to dig deeper and find out what was going on. So we contacted our IT provider and launched an investigation.",{"data":299,"content":300,"nodeType":249},{},[301],{"data":302,"marks":303,"value":304,"nodeType":248},{},[],"We found that the email we sent containing the invoice was also forwarded to an external Gmail address. The attacker had also registered a visually similar domain name and cloned the look and feel of our emails to reply to our customers and trick them into believing it was from us. This 1-letter difference in the domain is highlighted in the image above.",{"data":306,"content":307,"nodeType":249},{},[308],{"data":309,"marks":310,"value":311,"nodeType":248},{},[],"The primary culprit behind the forwarding of the message was then discovered. A mail rule had been created that forwarded emails with the word \"payment\" (among others) in the subject.",{"data":313,"content":317,"nodeType":276},{"target":314},{"sys":315},{"id":316,"type":273,"linkType":274},"2aafjsTsqy7ljL5hh8c3MO",[],{"data":319,"content":320,"nodeType":249},{},[321],{"data":322,"marks":323,"value":324,"nodeType":248},{},[],"Some senior employees had received phishing emails a few days prior to this incident taking place. The email took them to a fake Microsoft login page and unfortunately one of them entered their password.",{"data":326,"content":330,"nodeType":276},{"target":327},{"sys":328},{"id":329,"type":273,"linkType":274},"3LqNjM8OlZLI6XQVtLaOe1",[],{"data":332,"content":333,"nodeType":249},{},[334],{"data":335,"marks":336,"value":337,"nodeType":248},{},[],"This stolen password was used to log in and set up the forwarding rule. This closed the loop and we understood what happened fully.",{"data":339,"content":340,"nodeType":249},{},[341],{"data":342,"marks":343,"value":344,"nodeType":248},{},[],"We learned a lot from the incident (and aged a few years!) and the main recommendations from our IT provider were to delete the mail rule, change the password again and enable MFA on all our email accounts. Had this customer paid this invoice without questioning the change of details, we would have lost millions.","document",{"entries":347},{"hyperlink":348,"inline":349,"block":350},[],[],[351,360,377],{"sys":352,"__typename":353,"title":354,"caption":355,"layoutMode":62,"file":356},{"id":272},"Image","BEC example","An email sent from the attacker, executing the final stages of the Business Email Compromise (BEC) attack.",{"url":357,"width":358,"height":359},"https://images.ctfassets.net/y1cdw1ablpvd/50pvGtctkN6sOtexSqU0pX/c212ca33b51ab9804bb944df8a45068f/2021-06-18_11-24-48.png",670,585,{"sys":361,"__typename":362,"content":363,"title":374,"buttonText":375,"buttonUrl":62,"signupRedirectUrl":376},{"id":316},"ActionBlockComponent",{"json":364},{"data":365,"content":366,"nodeType":345},{},[367],{"data":368,"content":369,"nodeType":249},{},[370],{"data":371,"marks":372,"value":373,"nodeType":248},{},[],"It takes less than two minutes to check all your Office 365 or Google Workspace mailboxes.","Use our free tool to check your user's mailboxes for malicious mail rules","Check now","/app/feature/detect-malicious-mail-rules/",{"sys":378,"__typename":353,"title":379,"caption":379,"layoutMode":62,"file":380},{"id":329},"Microsoft phishing page",{"url":381,"width":382,"height":383},"https://images.ctfassets.net/y1cdw1ablpvd/RaFBDuo2BmCqZvnNRlX5E/51599d6d23ee89408b4a07a794f199fa/2021-06-18_15-47-24.png",731,683,"json",{"items":386},[],[388,389,390,391,392],"businessemailcompromise","bec","mailrules","office365","warstory",{},"Business Email Compromise (BEC) attack nearly cost millions","2021-06-14T00:00:00.000+01:00",{"items":397},[398,784],{"__typename":399,"sys":400,"content":402,"title":759,"synopsis":760,"hashTags":761,"publishedDate":764,"slug":765,"tagsCollection":766,"authorsCollection":776},"BlogPosts",{"id":401},"2zZ8kxP0t8Smi9b6hpT34k",{"json":403},{"nodeType":345,"data":404,"content":405},{},[406,413,419,426,447,479,486,572,591,594,602,620,627,634,637,644,692,699,716,723,726,734,741],{"nodeType":249,"data":407,"content":408},{},[409],{"nodeType":248,"value":410,"marks":411,"data":412},"Mail rules are a handy feature found in most email clients. You might have used them to forward emails to your teammates while you’re off sipping Piña coladas, or to move incoming email from that spammy colleague to the ‘don’t read’ folder.",[],{},{"nodeType":276,"data":414,"content":418},{"target":415},{"sys":416},{"id":417,"type":273,"linkType":274},"7xLVXoCCjansV1u50e2pbM",[],{"nodeType":249,"data":420,"content":421},{},[422],{"nodeType":248,"value":423,"marks":424,"data":425},"Sadly for us defenders, they’re just as useful for attackers. After gaining access to a victim's account, attackers will often create a mail rule inside their mailbox as a way to maintain stealthy access. This mail rule can do anything a normal mail rule could but is usually used to forward emails matching sensitive keywords, like ‘invoice’ or ‘payment’, to an external email address controlled by the attacker.",[],{},{"nodeType":427,"data":428,"content":429},"blockquote",{},[430],{"nodeType":249,"data":431,"content":432},{},[433,437,443],{"nodeType":248,"value":434,"marks":435,"data":436},"This gives the ",[],{},{"nodeType":248,"value":438,"marks":439,"data":442},"attacker persistent access to the mailbox",[440],{"type":441},"bold",{},{"nodeType":248,"value":444,"marks":445,"data":446},". Even if the victim's password is changed, they turn on MFA, or their workstation is completely rebuilt - as long as the rule stays in place, it remains effective.",[],{},{"nodeType":249,"data":448,"content":449},{},[450,454,465,469,475],{"nodeType":248,"value":451,"marks":452,"data":453},"As another example, in ",[],{},{"nodeType":455,"data":456,"content":458},"hyperlink",{"uri":457},"https://www.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/comments/6l63x6/malicious_outlook_rules/",[459],{"nodeType":248,"value":460,"marks":461,"data":464},"this Reddit thread",[462],{"type":463},"underline",{},{"nodeType":248,"value":466,"marks":467,"data":468}," the author describes how mail rules were used to ",[],{},{"nodeType":248,"value":470,"marks":471,"data":474},"delete ",[472],{"type":473},"italic",{},{"nodeType":248,"value":476,"marks":477,"data":478},"any emails the affected user received from the company’s Chief Finance Officer (CFO) so that the attacker could pretend to be the CFO, sending them fake emails to convince them to transfer out company funds.",[],{},{"nodeType":249,"data":480,"content":481},{},[482],{"nodeType":248,"value":483,"marks":484,"data":485},"Business Email Compromise (BEC) like this is the most popular type of attack at the moment, causing damages well into the billions according to the FBI. Here are just a few publicly documented breaches involving mail rules:",[],{},{"nodeType":487,"data":488,"content":489},"unordered-list",{},[490,511,531,552],{"nodeType":491,"data":492,"content":493},"list-item",{},[494],{"nodeType":249,"data":495,"content":496},{},[497,500,508],{"nodeType":248,"value":29,"marks":498,"data":499},[],{},{"nodeType":455,"data":501,"content":503},{"uri":502},"https://www.sans.org/dataincident2020",[504],{"nodeType":248,"value":505,"marks":506,"data":507},"SANS: 28,000 PII records lost",[],{},{"nodeType":248,"value":29,"marks":509,"data":510},[],{},{"nodeType":491,"data":512,"content":513},{},[514],{"nodeType":249,"data":515,"content":516},{},[517,520,528],{"nodeType":248,"value":29,"marks":518,"data":519},[],{},{"nodeType":455,"data":521,"content":523},{"uri":522},"https://www.ic3.gov/Media/News/2020/201204.pdf",[524],{"nodeType":248,"value":525,"marks":526,"data":527},"FBI report: BEC involving malicious mail rules costs company $175k",[],{},{"nodeType":248,"value":29,"marks":529,"data":530},[],{},{"nodeType":491,"data":532,"content":533},{},[534],{"nodeType":249,"data":535,"content":536},{},[537,540,548],{"nodeType":248,"value":29,"marks":538,"data":539},[],{},{"nodeType":455,"data":541,"content":543},{"uri":542},"https://www.reddit.com/r/Office365/comments/ej0wkx/hacker_created_forwarding_rules_for_users_account/",[544],{"nodeType":248,"value":545,"marks":546,"data":547},"Reddit thread: Hacker created forwarding rule for user's account",[],{},{"nodeType":248,"value":549,"marks":550,"data":551}," ",[],{},{"nodeType":491,"data":553,"content":554},{},[555],{"nodeType":249,"data":556,"content":557},{},[558,561,569],{"nodeType":248,"value":29,"marks":559,"data":560},[],{},{"nodeType":455,"data":562,"content":564},{"uri":563},"https://www.microsoft.com/security/blog/2021/06/14/behind-the-scenes-of-business-email-compromise-using-cross-domain-threat-data-to-disrupt-a-large-bec-infrastructure/",[565],{"nodeType":248,"value":566,"marks":567,"data":568},"Microsoft case study of BEC operation using mail rules",[],{},{"nodeType":248,"value":29,"marks":570,"data":571},[],{},{"nodeType":249,"data":573,"content":574},{},[575,579,587],{"nodeType":248,"value":576,"marks":577,"data":578},"You can read ",[],{},{"nodeType":455,"data":580,"content":582},{"uri":581},"/blog/case-study-business-email-compromise-bec-attack-nearly-cost-us-millions/",[583],{"nodeType":248,"value":584,"marks":585,"data":586},"this case study",[],{},{"nodeType":248,"value":588,"marks":589,"data":590}," of a how a real Business Email Compromise (BEC) attack played out at an engineering firm that we interviewed.",[],{},{"nodeType":253,"data":592,"content":593},{},[],{"nodeType":595,"data":596,"content":597},"heading-1",{},[598],{"nodeType":248,"value":599,"marks":600,"data":601},"How likely is this to actually happen?",[],{},{"nodeType":249,"data":603,"content":604},{},[605,608,616],{"nodeType":248,"value":29,"marks":606,"data":607},[],{},{"nodeType":455,"data":609,"content":611},{"uri":610},"https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1114/003/",[612],{"nodeType":248,"value":613,"marks":614,"data":615},"MITRE lists threat groups",[],{},{"nodeType":248,"value":617,"marks":618,"data":619}," that have been known to use mail rules in this way as part of targeted attacks. However, most often, this technique is used opportunistically.",[],{},{"nodeType":249,"data":621,"content":622},{},[623],{"nodeType":248,"value":624,"marks":625,"data":626},"Attackers run phishing campaigns containing thousands of harvested emails from multiple companies. A classic scenario is to trick a user into logging in to a fake Office 365 or Google Workspace login screen, stealing their credentials. Those credentials are then used to create a malicious mail rule inside the compromised user's mailbox. For scale and speed, this process is completely automated.",[],{},{"nodeType":249,"data":628,"content":629},{},[630],{"nodeType":248,"value":631,"marks":632,"data":633},"Similarly a mail rule could be created automatically as the result of a user’s workstation becoming infected with malware.",[],{},{"nodeType":253,"data":635,"content":636},{},[],{"nodeType":595,"data":638,"content":639},{},[640],{"nodeType":248,"value":641,"marks":642,"data":643},"How to defend against this type of attack?",[],{},{"nodeType":249,"data":645,"content":646},{},[647,651,659,663,674,678,688],{"nodeType":248,"value":648,"marks":649,"data":650},"The first step is to check your mailboxes to make sure no malicious mail rules have already been created. On Office 365, this will require rolling some PowerShell; on Google Workspace, you'll need to query the APIs (we discuss some detail of these options ",[],{},{"nodeType":455,"data":652,"content":654},{"uri":653},"/blog/should-you-disable-external-email-auto-forwarding/",[655],{"nodeType":248,"value":656,"marks":657,"data":658},"in this post",[],{},{"nodeType":248,"value":660,"marks":661,"data":662},"). Or you can save yourself some pain and use the free tool linked above, which we built for this very purpose. If you find rules that don't look right, follow these guides for what to do next on ",[],{},{"nodeType":664,"data":665,"content":669},"entry-hyperlink",{"target":666},{"sys":667},{"id":668,"type":273,"linkType":274},"e4805bba-2531-4250-bdcc-ab996dd33519",[670],{"nodeType":248,"value":671,"marks":672,"data":673},"Office 365",[],{},{"nodeType":248,"value":675,"marks":676,"data":677}," or ",[],{},{"nodeType":664,"data":679,"content":683},{"target":680},{"sys":681},{"id":682,"type":273,"linkType":274},"50dab356-e78b-479d-ad45-a07b898b5ec4",[684],{"nodeType":248,"value":685,"marks":686,"data":687},"Google Workspace",[],{},{"nodeType":248,"value":689,"marks":690,"data":691},".",[],{},{"nodeType":249,"data":693,"content":694},{},[695],{"nodeType":248,"value":696,"marks":697,"data":698},"It's also possible to stop users from creating auto-forwarding rules altogether. If no one is using the feature, this is probably a good idea - you might as well reduce risk. However, there are plenty of situations where teams benefit from the automation and efficiency mail rules bring. Security works best when it enables the business to work securely, rather than constraining it - leaving the feature available whilst managing the risk through detection is a good option as well.",[],{},{"nodeType":249,"data":700,"content":701},{},[702,706,713],{"nodeType":248,"value":703,"marks":704,"data":705},"We discuss more about the pros and cons of disabling mail rules and some options for some security controls you can implement so that you can keep them enabled ",[],{},{"nodeType":455,"data":707,"content":708},{"uri":653},[709],{"nodeType":248,"value":710,"marks":711,"data":712},"in this blog post",[],{},{"nodeType":248,"value":689,"marks":714,"data":715},[],{},{"nodeType":249,"data":717,"content":718},{},[719],{"nodeType":248,"value":720,"marks":721,"data":722},"If you'd like, try Push for free and we'll spot any suspicious mail rules, then work with employees to make sure the mail rule wasn't something they created for a legitimate use. If they haven't, we'll notify you to take action and investigate a potential incident. Find out more here.",[],{},{"nodeType":253,"data":724,"content":725},{},[],{"nodeType":595,"data":727,"content":728},{},[729],{"nodeType":248,"value":730,"marks":731,"data":733},"Learn more",[732],{"type":441},{},{"nodeType":249,"data":735,"content":736},{},[737],{"nodeType":248,"value":738,"marks":739,"data":740},"It doesn’t stop there — Push provides comprehensive identity attack detection and response capabilities against techniques like credential stuffing, password spraying and session hijacking using stolen session tokens. You can also use Push to find and fix identity vulnerabilities across every app that your employees use like: ghost logins; SSO coverage gaps; MFA gaps; weak, breached and reused passwords; risky OAuth integrations; and more. ",[],{},{"nodeType":249,"data":742,"content":743},{},[744,748,756],{"nodeType":248,"value":745,"marks":746,"data":747},"If you want to learn more about how Push helps you to detect and defeat common identity attack techniques, ",[],{},{"nodeType":455,"data":749,"content":751},{"uri":750},"https://pushsecurity.com/demo?utm_campaign=12081956-FY25Q2_Hacker-News-Article&utm_source=thehackernews&utm_medium=sponsored&utm_content=external-article",[752],{"nodeType":248,"value":753,"marks":754,"data":755},"book some time with one of our team for a live demo",[],{},{"nodeType":248,"value":689,"marks":757,"data":758},[],{},"Email security: How hackers use mail rules to access your inbox","After phishing campaigns target Office 365 and Google Workspace users, malicious mail rules are automatically added to the user’s mailbox. Take steps to defend.",[388,389,390,391,762,763],"googleworkspace","emailsecurity","2021-06-10T00:00:00.000+01:00","email-security-how-hackers-use-mail-rules-to-access-your-inbox",{"items":767},[768,772],{"sys":769,"name":771},{"id":770},"6A5RXS31ZQx3PwryGb1IMy","Browser-based attacks",{"sys":773,"name":775},{"id":774},"4ksQNCFeBf8H4QIORqpRLw","Detection & response",{"items":777},[778],{"fullName":779,"firstName":780,"jobTitle":781,"profilePicture":782},"Andy Waugh","Andy","VP Product",{"url":783},"https://images.ctfassets.net/y1cdw1ablpvd/3Rf76rJn6S9inMb4dUnAIJ/0a787f8141d05b95300e2fe77c4493fa/DSC_6868.jpg",{"__typename":399,"sys":785,"content":787,"title":1108,"synopsis":1109,"hashTags":1110,"publishedDate":1111,"slug":1112,"tagsCollection":1113,"authorsCollection":1119},{"id":786},"roVnr9Z2sHDPGtemZUE7u",{"json":788},{"data":789,"content":790,"nodeType":345},{},[791,810,818,847,863,870,877,884,892,899,919,926,946,951,959,966,986,994,1013,1021,1028,1081,1089,1096,1102],{"data":792,"content":793,"nodeType":249},{},[794,798,806],{"data":795,"marks":796,"value":797,"nodeType":248},{},[],"Mail rules can be abused by attackers to get stealthy, persistent access to a mailbox, leak data and facilitate high-impact Business Email Compromise (",{"data":799,"content":801,"nodeType":455},{"uri":800},"/blog/email-security-how-hackers-use-mail-rules-to-access-your-inbox/",[802],{"data":803,"marks":804,"value":805,"nodeType":248},{},[],"read more here",{"data":807,"marks":808,"value":809,"nodeType":248},{},[],"). So, lots of organisations decide to ban external auto-forwarding of email altogether. The question is, is this a good move?",{"data":811,"content":812,"nodeType":817},{},[813],{"data":814,"marks":815,"value":816,"nodeType":248},{},[],"This is damage limitation, not prevention","heading-2",{"data":819,"content":820,"nodeType":249},{},[821,825,830,834,843],{"data":822,"marks":823,"value":824,"nodeType":248},{},[],"It’s important to recognise that adding a malicious mail rule to a user’s mailbox is a ",{"data":826,"marks":827,"value":829,"nodeType":248},{},[828],{"type":441},"post-compromise activity",{"data":831,"marks":832,"value":833,"nodeType":248},{},[],". That is, an attacker has already compromised the victim somehow - compromised their password, deployed malware on their machine, performed consent phishing etc. - they already have access to their mailbox. At this point, you should assume all data in the mailbox is compromised anyway. (See here for “",{"data":835,"content":838,"nodeType":664},{"target":836},{"sys":837},{"id":668,"type":273,"linkType":274},[839],{"data":840,"marks":841,"value":842,"nodeType":248},{},[],"what to do if I find a malicious mail rule?",{"data":844,"marks":845,"value":846,"nodeType":248},{},[],"”)",{"data":848,"content":849,"nodeType":249},{},[850,854,859],{"data":851,"marks":852,"value":853,"nodeType":248},{},[],"Preventing external auto-forwarding rules therefore reduces",{"data":855,"marks":856,"value":858,"nodeType":248},{},[857],{"type":441}," further potential impact",{"data":860,"marks":861,"value":862,"nodeType":248},{},[]," to a compromised account - worth doing if no one is using the feature, but what if your users are?",{"data":864,"content":865,"nodeType":817},{},[866],{"data":867,"marks":868,"value":869,"nodeType":248},{},[],"Security vs. user experience",{"data":871,"content":872,"nodeType":249},{},[873],{"data":874,"marks":875,"value":876,"nodeType":248},{},[],"Good security should enable a business and its users to work securely rather than constrain it. Controls that restrict users’ productivity or are seen as a nuisance will be bypassed and although you might prevent a potential attack type, you’ll ultimately cause less secure behaviour from your users.",{"data":878,"content":879,"nodeType":249},{},[880],{"data":881,"marks":882,"value":883,"nodeType":248},{},[],"With that in mind, if external auto-forwarding of email is something your users need - and there are plenty of legitimate scenarios where this may be the case - you should be considering how to manage the risk, rather than eliminate it. The good news is this is totally doable. Equally, if none, or most of your users don’t need this feature, you should of course disable it to reduce your overall risk.",{"data":885,"content":886,"nodeType":249},{},[887],{"data":888,"marks":889,"value":891,"nodeType":248},{},[890],{"type":441},"Managing the risk on Exchange Online for Microsoft 365 through detection alone",{"data":893,"content":894,"nodeType":249},{},[895],{"data":896,"marks":897,"value":898,"nodeType":248},{},[],"Managing the risk of external auto-forwarding email rules means making sure you’re alerted when one is created. ",{"data":900,"content":901,"nodeType":249},{},[902,906,915],{"data":903,"marks":904,"value":905,"nodeType":248},{},[],"If you’re using Exchange Online for Microsoft 365, ",{"data":907,"content":909,"nodeType":455},{"uri":908},"https://protection.office.com/alertpolicies",[910],{"data":911,"marks":912,"value":914,"nodeType":248},{},[913],{"type":463},"an informational alert policy",{"data":916,"marks":917,"value":918,"nodeType":248},{},[]," - “Creation of forwarding/redirect rule” - can be enabled so alerts of this type of suspicious rules will be sent to tenant admins when they are created in future. ",{"data":920,"content":921,"nodeType":249},{},[922],{"data":923,"marks":924,"value":925,"nodeType":248},{},[],"/prod",{"data":927,"content":928,"nodeType":249},{},[929,933,942],{"data":930,"marks":931,"value":932,"nodeType":248},{},[],"The downside of this approach is it isn’t possible to look retrospectively (",{"data":934,"content":936,"nodeType":455},{"uri":935},"https://gcits.com/knowledge-base/find-inbox-rules-forward-mail-externally-office-365-powershell/",[937],{"data":938,"marks":939,"value":941,"nodeType":248},{},[940],{"type":463},"without using PowerShell",{"data":943,"marks":944,"value":945,"nodeType":248},{},[],") so alerts will only fire on future creation of forwarding rules. Additionally, alerts also fire for internal forwarding rules which can generate a lot of noise when looking specifically for malicious rules. ",{"data":947,"content":950,"nodeType":276},{"target":948},{"sys":949},{"id":316,"type":273,"linkType":274},[],{"data":952,"content":953,"nodeType":249},{},[954],{"data":955,"marks":956,"value":958,"nodeType":248},{},[957],{"type":441},"Managing the risk on Exchange Online for Microsoft 365  through detection & prevention",{"data":960,"content":961,"nodeType":249},{},[962],{"data":963,"marks":964,"value":965,"nodeType":248},{},[],"In addition to being alerted when rules are created, you can take steps to either disallow external auto-forwarding rules altogether, or prevent them taking effect. You might think disallowing their creation is better but if you can permit creation but stop them from taking effect, you keep a high-fidelity detection of account compromise, without adding any additional risk.",{"data":967,"content":968,"nodeType":249},{},[969,973,982],{"data":970,"marks":971,"value":972,"nodeType":248},{},[],"In Exchange Online for Microsoft 365, you can achieve this with ",{"data":974,"content":976,"nodeType":455},{"uri":975},"https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/security/office-365-security/external-email-forwarding?view=o365-worldwide",[977],{"data":978,"marks":979,"value":981,"nodeType":248},{},[980],{"type":463},"outbound spam filter policies",{"data":983,"marks":984,"value":985,"nodeType":248},{},[]," to automatically stop any emails auto-forwarded out of your organisation. If an attacker creates a malicious auto-forwarding rule, any forwarded mail will be blocked by the spam filter; if you have your alerts set up correctly, you’ll still receive an alert about the new malicious rule.",{"data":987,"content":988,"nodeType":249},{},[989],{"data":990,"marks":991,"value":993,"nodeType":248},{},[992],{"type":441},"Managing the risk on Gmail for Google Workspace",{"data":995,"content":996,"nodeType":249},{},[997,1001,1010],{"data":998,"marks":999,"value":1000,"nodeType":248},{},[],"Google Workspace only allows complete prevention, such that your users (and attackers) are not able to create forwarding settings. If you decide that is right for you, you can disable automatic forwarding entirely by ",{"data":1002,"content":1004,"nodeType":455},{"uri":1003},"https://support.google.com/a/answer/2491924?hl=en",[1005],{"data":1006,"marks":1007,"value":1009,"nodeType":248},{},[1008],{"type":463},"following these instructions",{"data":1011,"marks":1012,"value":689,"nodeType":248},{},[],{"data":1014,"content":1015,"nodeType":249},{},[1016],{"data":1017,"marks":1018,"value":1020,"nodeType":248},{},[1019],{"type":441},"Managing the risk using the Push platform",{"data":1022,"content":1023,"nodeType":249},{},[1024],{"data":1025,"marks":1026,"value":1027,"nodeType":248},{},[],"Using the Push platform makes managing this risk a lot easier with less of your time:",{"data":1029,"content":1030,"nodeType":487},{},[1031,1041,1051,1061,1071],{"data":1032,"content":1033,"nodeType":491},{},[1034],{"data":1035,"content":1036,"nodeType":249},{},[1037],{"data":1038,"marks":1039,"value":1040,"nodeType":248},{},[],"Connect your platform with a few clicks and we’ll sweep your estate for any suspicious rules currently in place.",{"data":1042,"content":1043,"nodeType":491},{},[1044],{"data":1045,"content":1046,"nodeType":249},{},[1047],{"data":1048,"marks":1049,"value":1050,"nodeType":248},{},[],"Get alerts via email or ChatOps (Slack or Teams) when new rules are created. Triage and deal with them directly from the email or chat platform.",{"data":1052,"content":1053,"nodeType":491},{},[1054],{"data":1055,"content":1056,"nodeType":249},{},[1057],{"data":1058,"marks":1059,"value":1060,"nodeType":248},{},[],"Use our ChatOps features to ask users directly if they recognise a rule when you’re unsure. You can even automate this so user feedback is already collected by the time you come to triage.",{"data":1062,"content":1063,"nodeType":491},{},[1064],{"data":1065,"content":1066,"nodeType":249},{},[1067],{"data":1068,"marks":1069,"value":1070,"nodeType":248},{},[],"Disable rules directly from the platform for quick response.",{"data":1072,"content":1073,"nodeType":491},{},[1074],{"data":1075,"content":1076,"nodeType":249},{},[1077],{"data":1078,"marks":1079,"value":1080,"nodeType":248},{},[],"Follow our detailed and clear guides for how to respond comprehensively.",{"data":1082,"content":1083,"nodeType":249},{},[1084],{"data":1085,"marks":1086,"value":1088,"nodeType":248},{},[1087],{"type":441},"Conclusion",{"data":1090,"content":1091,"nodeType":249},{},[1092],{"data":1093,"marks":1094,"value":1095,"nodeType":248},{},[],"If your users don’t use external email auto-forwarding, it makes sense to prevent the feature to limit the impact of a malicious mail rule. However, if there are legitimate business reasons for keeping the feature active, this risk can be sufficiently managed through detection.",{"data":1097,"content":1101,"nodeType":276},{"target":1098},{"sys":1099},{"id":1100,"type":273,"linkType":274},"2y0INxqAi594O7rCAVKhTI",[],{"data":1103,"content":1104,"nodeType":249},{},[1105],{"data":1106,"marks":1107,"value":29,"nodeType":248},{},[],"Should you disable external email auto-forwarding?","External email auto-forwarding is a feature but also a risk; learn whether you should disable it, and, if you can't, how to manage the risk through detection.",[388,389,390,391,762],"2021-06-03T00:00:00.000+01:00","should-you-disable-external-email-auto-forwarding",{"items":1114},[1115,1117],{"sys":1116,"name":771},{"id":770},{"sys":1118,"name":775},{"id":774},{"items":1120},[1121],{"fullName":779,"firstName":780,"jobTitle":781,"profilePicture":1122},{"url":783},"case-study-business-email-compromise-bec-attack-nearly-cost-us-millions","blog/case-study-business-email-compromise-bec-attack-nearly-cost-us-millions",{"json":1126},{"data":1127,"content":1128,"nodeType":345},{},[1129],{"data":1130,"content":1131,"nodeType":249},{},[1132],{"data":1133,"marks":1134,"value":1135,"nodeType":248},{},[],"An interesting BEC example. After attackers gained access to a senior employee's email account they began their Business Email Compromise (BEC) attack. They created a mail rule that forwarded all payment emails to another address and then followed up with an email changing the banking details. This nearly resulted in millions lost.","A story by the owner of an Engineering company on how they almost lost millions from a Business Email Compromise (BEC) style attack. An interesting BEC example.",{"id":1138,"publishedAt":1139},"pj2eLZXa4PyrY1DD4NCHt","2024-03-21T09:21:33.190Z",{"items":1141},[1142,1144],{"sys":1143,"name":771},{"id":770},{"sys":1145,"name":1147},{"id":1146},"1gZi8NrRy2v9OqPV7C4dwD","Risk management","bJUlELXSdIZU9MU0xFKhy7PHcO9kb2_VwtzfJ1XQzxQ",1784196717320]