Dear colleagues,
Through the past weeks, we have experienced an increasing number of very serious phishing attempts. The phishing emails are well written and can easily be perceived as credible. Some even include a worrying knowledge of Odfjell's activities and our employees.
The cybercriminals' intention is of course to trick the receiver into starting a conversation and/or give up details so that they can access our documents, emails, accounts.
Last week, we experienced a severe breach. An account was compromised, resulting in a falsified Payment Authorization Letter. Everything about the letter was following Odfjell's procedures and wording – except for the bank account numbers. Luckily, the external receiver noticed that the bank account details differed from previous transactions and contacted Odfjell. The payment was stopped last minute.
Until the external party contacted us, there were no clear signs of any illicit activity in the attacked account, neither the emails, document library or other folders. The cybercriminals' movements are near invisible until they strike. The consequences can be extreme. This time alone, we were close to losing millions. We have seen other companies that have not noticed the breach in time; they have compromised the trust in the company, lost financial security and risked their employees, partners and customers' safety and data.
This is dramatic, and we need to be extremely alert and vigilant moving forward.
I commend our IT department for always staying on top of this rapidly changing threat, for installing data security measures such as firewalls, two-factor authentication, educating us with courses and email testing, and monitoring the phishing attempts 24/7.
IT can do a lot, but in the end, it all comes down to every single one of us. We all have to take personal responsibility to safeguard ourselves and the company from cyberattacks.
This time, the mentioned account was compromised because the owner gave up log-in details and followed through with the two-factor authentication – a key that opened access to the attackers.
We are dependent on each other to stay safe. Please do your part to keep colleagues and the company safe from cyberattacks. Do not rush through the emails, but ask yourself:
If in doubt, call the sender and confirm or check in with IT. Never give your username and password or click links that you are not 100% sure is legit. Use the Phish alert button to notify IT about potential phishing attempts so that our inhouse experts can check and stop the attempts. The recent breach may have given cybercriminals access to the address book - which means we will experience an increase in targeted phishing emails, phone calls and sms' going forward. Stay alert!
If you suspect that your data has been compromised in any shape or form, please report immediately to itsecurity@odfjell.com.
Let's stick together and form a cybersecurity barrier!
Take care and stay safe.
Kristian Mørch
CEO
