Amid Corporate Fraud Risks, Execs Blunting Email, Supply Chain Attacks

Amid all the headlines detailing the successful data breaches, and vulnerabilities of companies across any number of verticals, we don’t hear much about the successful efforts … to blunt those attacks. It turns out companies are having some success in the everlasting battle against corporate fraud — in B2B, email phishing scams and supply chain attacks in particular.

ThreatConnect, which offers what it has termed “extensible, intelligence driven solutions,” released a survey this week, titled “Building a Threat Intelligence Program” that sees progress being made even against a backdrop of increasing data security threats. Among the companies surveyed, firms that have threat detection programs and efforts in place are seeing a payoff in their vigilance — and the survey shows that 70 percent of executives plan to up their spending on risk efforts.

The findings from more than 350 surveyed show that 67 percent of respondents have blocked phishing attacks, 58 percent have halted ransomware attacks and 57 percent have halted insider attack efforts. As pertains to supply chain risk, 49 percent said they’d prevented attacks there. Those companies, overall, according to the ThreatConnect study, saved $8.8 million over the last 12 months. There’s still work to be done, though, as 70 percent of companies say they do not have the resources in hand to monitor all cybersecurity threats.

Elsewhere, the government — particularly the White House — is turning its attention to fraud. Specifically, with a task force.

In an announcement from the Trump administration, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to debut a task force that, according to a release, will “promote market integrity.” Though the focus is consumer fraud, there is indeed mention of fraud tied to cryptos and corporate fraud as well. The efforts will involve the Department of Justice, CFPB, SEC and Federal Trade Commission, along with agencies in law enforcement at the local level.

The task force is, well, tasked with offering up recommendations to the White House on regulatory changes that can address the ways fraud is handled and prosecuted. The task force will also address cyberfraud and fraud that targets the elderly.

In individual fraud news, a Winston-Salem man was arrested this past week. Charges state that Edward Hilton Graham bilked Hanesbrands of $275,000 over a period of years. He was charged with two counts of obtaining property by false pretenses. In a bit more granular detail, investigators stated that he grabbed $150,375 for leases and rental properties in New York. He used corporate cards and prepaid cards from 2015 to 2018 for separate purchases. The cards were slated to be used for corporate events, reported Greensboro.com’s News & Record. The company itself stated that the matter had been turned over to local authorities after an internal investigation, which stretches back several months to 2017.

Separately, News 4 reported in Oklahoma that a volunteer and employee at charity Oklahoma Foster Wishes — an organization that helps thousands of foster children across the state by giving gifts — was charged with embezzling as much as $23,000, almost all of the charity’s proceeds. Norman, Oklahoma police charged Stephanie Ann McElhaney with felony embezzlement.

The accused bought merchandise from five merchants over a period of two months in 2017, using a business debit card that had belonged to OK Foster Wishes. After those purchases were made, there was only $2,500 left in the charity’s account. The money was allegedly embezzled and spent while the then-CEO was taking care of her daughter, who had been ill with terminal cancer.

McElhaney had, according to the web site, said that “she had unknowingly made all of the purchases” with the aforementioned debit card.