Root Cause Analysis of Phishing Attacks in Organizations

Phishing Attacks

• People
  • Negligence
  • Sharing sensitive information online
  • Clicking on suspicious links
  • Lack of Awareness
  • Failure to recognize phishing emails
  • Insufficient cybersecurity training
• Processes
  • Weak Access Controls
  • Sharing of credentials
  • Use of weak passwords
  • Inefficient Incident Response
  • Lack of phishing simulation exercises
  • Delay in recognizing and mitigating phishing attacks
• Technology
  • Outdated Software
  • Lack of multi-factor authentication (MFA)
  • Unpatched vulnerabilities in email clients
  • Inadequate Email Filtering
  • Poorly configured email gateway security
  • Weak spam filters
• Environment
  • High-Volume Email Communication
  • Trusting external communication
  • Overwhelmed employees
  • Remote Work Culture
  • Use of personal devices
  • Insecure home networks
• Policy
  • Weak Regulatory Compliance
  • Lack of audits or phishing assessments
  • Failure to comply with cybersecurity standards
  • Lack of Comprehensive Cybersecurity Policy
  • Absence of phishing-related protocols
  • No formal reporting mechanism

Suggested Actions Checklist

Here are some corrective actions, preventive actions and investigative actions that organizations may find useful:

• People
  • Negligence
    • Corrective Actions:
    • Conduct targeted counseling or retraining sessions for individuals involved in incidents.
    • Enforce stricter disciplinary policies for repeated negligent behavior.
    • Preventive Actions:
    • Introduce mandatory cybersecurity behavior guidelines in employee handbooks.
    • Implement routine awareness campaigns highlighting real-world phishing consequences.
    • Investigative Actions:
    • Analyze incidents to determine whether negligence stemmed from workload, stress, or lack of accountability.
    • Review user access logs and email activity to identify trends in risky behavior.
  • Lack of Awareness
    • Corrective Actions:
    • Organize immediate phishing awareness sessions for departments with poor performance.
    • Provide just-in-time training prompts when risky behaviors are detected.
    • Preventive Actions:
    • Incorporate phishing simulations into onboarding and annual training programs.
    • Maintain updated e-learning modules focused on emerging phishing techniques.
    • Investigative Actions:
    • Conduct surveys to assess employees’ understanding of phishing threats.
    • Review past training effectiveness and participation records.
• Processes
  • Weak Access Controls
    • Corrective Actions:
    • Reset shared passwords and implement role-based access restrictions.
    • Disable account access immediately when suspicious sharing is identified.
    • Preventive Actions:
    • Enforce password policies with complexity and rotation requirements.
    • Implement strict authentication workflows for access to sensitive systems.
    • Investigative Actions:
    • Audit user access logs to identify unauthorized or unusual credential use.
    • Investigate departments where credential sharing is common practice.
  • Inefficient Incident Response
    • Corrective Actions:
    • Define clear escalation paths and response timelines in the incident response plan.
    • Establish a 24/7 cybersecurity response team for rapid containment.
    • Preventive Actions:
    • Schedule regular phishing simulations and tabletop exercises.
    • Create and distribute step-by-step guides for identifying and reporting phishing.
    • Investigative Actions:
    • Perform post-incident reviews to identify bottlenecks in response.
    • Evaluate how quickly previous phishing incidents were reported and resolved.
• Technology
  • Outdated Software
    • Corrective Actions:
    • Patch all systems and enforce software updates across all devices.
    • Replace legacy systems lacking security feature support.
    • Preventive Actions:
    • Set up automated update enforcement for operating systems and applications.
    • Maintain an inventory of software and associated update cycles.
    • Investigative Actions:
    • Scan for unpatched systems and determine reasons for delay in updates.
    • Audit use of outdated tools with known vulnerabilities.
  • Inadequate Email Filtering
    • Corrective Actions:
    • Reconfigure email gateway settings to block high-risk attachments and links.
    • Integrate advanced threat detection solutions like sandboxing.
    • Preventive Actions:
    • Regularly test and tune spam filters for optimal performance.
    • Establish whitelist/blacklist management policies.
    • Investigative Actions:
    • Analyze how phishing emails bypassed current filters.
    • Review filtering logs and test for missed phishing signatures.
• Environment
  • High-Volume Email Communication
    • Corrective Actions:
    • Introduce email labeling and prioritization tools to reduce overload.
    • Implement context-sensitive warning banners for external emails.
    • Preventive Actions:
    • Encourage internal communication through secure collaboration platforms.
    • Train employees to verify unexpected or urgent requests via a second channel.
    • Investigative Actions:
    • Review typical email loads by department and evaluate stress points.
    • Monitor incidents correlated with periods of email spikes.
  • Remote Work Culture
    • Corrective Actions:
    • Enforce security configurations on personal devices used for work.
    • Provide secured VPN access and endpoint protection for remote workers.
    • Preventive Actions:
    • Establish a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policy with strict controls.
    • Train remote employees on secure home network practices.
    • Investigative Actions:
    • Audit access logs for signs of risky behavior from remote IPs.
    • Evaluate the effectiveness of remote security policies.
• Policy
  • Weak Regulatory Compliance
    • Corrective Actions:
    • Schedule external audits to identify and close compliance gaps.
    • Address findings from prior assessments with formal action plans.
    • Preventive Actions:
    • Align cybersecurity practices with industry standards (e.g., ISO 27001, NIST).
    • Conduct periodic compliance self-checks and documentation reviews.
    • Investigative Actions:
    • Review past non-compliance reports and unaddressed recommendations.
    • Investigate whether gaps in policy enforcement contributed to incidents.
  • Lack of Comprehensive Cybersecurity Policy
    • Corrective Actions:
    • Develop and disseminate a phishing-specific response and prevention policy.
    • Introduce formal procedures for reporting suspicious emails.
    • Preventive Actions:
    • Review and update cybersecurity policies quarterly.
    • Conduct leadership workshops to embed policy awareness at all levels.
    • Investigative Actions:
    • Analyze whether unclear policies delayed or prevented incident reporting.
    • Evaluate policy gaps based on user behavior during phishing incidents.