Hostile hackers attack accountants of Ukrainian companies with “letters from the tax authorities” again
31 October 09:07Ukrainian accountants have begun receiving fake letters from the “tax authorities”. This is stated in the message of the governmental team for responding to computer emergencies of Ukraine CERT-UA, which operates under the State Special Communications Service, Komersant Ukrainian reports.
What accountants should pay attention to
The attackers send emails that imitate messages from the State Tax Service of Ukraine. Accordingly, the words “Congratulations, you have a letter from the Tax Service” should be alarming. These emails contain PDF documents with a link to a file service hosting an archive. Opening its contents will lead to the installation of a malicious program on your computer, which will give attackers remote access to it.
Who is at risk
CERT-UA emphasizes that the described activity is financially motivated and is carried out by the UAC-0050 group. Accountants of companies whose computers are used to work with remote banking systems should be especially careful. It should be borne in mind that in some cases, it may take no more than an hour from the moment of the initial attack to the moment of theft of the company’s funds.
How to protect yourself from hacker threats
CERT-UA notes that it is possible to reduce the likelihood of a cyber threat by setting up regular operating system security mechanisms, as well as by fully utilizing the functionality of banking institutions’ information systems in terms of authenticating accountant actions using one-time codes.