Quote:Microsoft users are being targeted with thousands of phishing emails, in an ongoing attack aiming to steal their Office 365 credentials. The attackers add an air of legitimacy to the campaign by leveraging a fake Google reCAPTCHA system and top-level domain landing pages that include the logos of victims’ companies.
 
According to researchers, at least 2,500 such emails have been unsuccessfully sent to senior-level employees in the banking and IT sector, over the past three months. The emails first take recipients to a fake Google reCAPTCHA system page. Google reCAPTCHA is a service that helps protect websites from spam and abuse, by using a Turing test to tell humans and bots apart (through asking a user to click on a fire hydrant out of a series of images, for instance).
 
Once victims “pass” the reCAPTCHA test, they are then redirected to a phishing landing page, which asks for their Office 365 credentials.
 
“The attack is notable for its targeted aim at senior business leaders with titles such as Vice President and Managing Director who are likely to have a higher degree of access to sensitive company data,” said researchers with Zscaler’s ThreatLabZ security research team on Friday. “The aim of these campaigns is to steal these victims’ login credentials to allow threat actors access to valuable company assets.”