As the world shifts toward different trends and interests, so too do the hackers and scammers who want to take advantage of it. Now, Microsoft has warned that the aviation and travel industry is seeing a spike in cyberattack efforts through phishing emails.

Which Tactics Are Scammers Using Versus the Travel Industry?

Microsoft Security Intelligence posted a thread of information on its official Twitter page. In the thread, the company talks about the attack, what it does, and the forms that the scam can take.

The attack starts with the scammer sending a phishing email that encourages the victim to download an infected file. If the victim does, the virus installs either RevengeRAT or AsyncRAT onto the target's PC.

Regardless of which RAT the malware installs, the goal seems to be the same. Each one is a Trojan that installs programs that harvest browser data, user credentials, webcam information, and important statistics about the system and the network it's on.

Related: What Is a Remote Access Trojan?

Who Are These Emails Aimed At?

The cybersecurity world isn't unfamiliar with data-stealing Trojans, but what makes this attack interesting is its intended target. Usually, when you see an attack like this, it's intended to strike at regular civilians. As such, it'll be structured and worded in a way to catch the attention of the average person.

However, these emails are a lot more complex. Microsoft shows off two of them as an example, and the first one is structured as a cargo charter request. The email asks the user to give a price quotation for over 1000 boxes of medical kits and links an infected file to send back.

The second one is a fake invitation to an Airbus Family Symposium. The email falsely promises to "provide you with an operational overview of what has been done to support all Airbus fleet [sic]" and gives you an infected PDF with "agenda details."

Neither of these seems like something that Auntie Mabel down the road will want to open in a heartbeat, but they definitely seem like they'd pique the interest of someone working in the aviation industry. As such, these attacks are less against the general public and more to harvest sensitive information from the travel industry.

So, why are hackers targeting aviation? It's likely an effort to slip in through the cracks during a tough time for the travel industry. At the time of writing, some countries are only just emerging from the other side of the COVID-19 pandemic, and travel industries are hurting to get people flying and money flowing.

Unfortunately, hackers thrive in an environment where people are willing to click on a link without a second thought. As such, it's highly likely that scammers have scoped out the aviation industry as a particularly profitable venture right now and have upped the ante as a result.

It's Plane Sailing for Hackers

When a particular business sees heightened activity, scammers are not far off. Microsoft has warned that hackers are now targeting people in the aviation industry to harvest information from them.

Of course, scammers do attack civilians from time to time. That's why it's important to smarten up on how phishing works and what you can do to avoid it.

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