Microsoft CyberSecurity Awareness Kit for COVID-19 phishing attacks

There has been a dramatic rise in the number of malicious emails and hacks using the coronavirus pandemic to steal information, fraudulently take money or infect users’ computers with malware. Known as ‘phishing’, the emails and sites promise access to items such as PPE supplies or special COVID-19 surveys and often appear to come from legitimate sources.

In order to help people recognise these threats, Microsoft have produced a CyberSecurity Awareness Kit designed to train your colleagues to spot ‘phishing’ attempts and privacy breaches.

“There are a wide range of techniques that the criminals use from attaching viruses to registering very similar domains, such as ‘arnazon.com’, to trick the recipient into following a link,” explains Chris Joberns, Managing Director at Strident.

What’s in the CyberSecurity Awareness Kit?

The kit is a zip file, named COVID19Kit.zip, that contains videos, web pages and PDFs that provide detailed training in three key areas. The files can be put in a central server location and made available to all company users.

The three courses are;

• Mass Phishing Training - this course helps users understand how mass phishing campaigns work and how they can recognise them.
• Protecting Your Home Computer - this course helps users understand how and why criminals go after their home computers, how that puts business information at risk, and what users can do to protect themselves at home.
• Privacy Training – this course helps users understand why their personal information is a target for hackers, and how they can maintain their privacy.

How do I get the kit?

With just a hint of irony, you’ll need to follow the link to Microsoft’s web site and log in with your Microsoft 365 / Office 365 username and password. If you’re not already logged in, we recommend that you do that first and then follow the link which will allow you to download the kit.

Please access your kit here at https://sip.security.microsoft.com/attackSimulatorTrainings

Microsoft are making these resources available to all of its customers for at least three months.

If you have any questions about Cyber Security, then please call us.