Criminals walk with the business mood. If people are not on the streets any more, there is no sense in planning robberies in the streets. If people are not buying shoes any more, there is no sense in trying to link a phishing link to an online shoe store. So, what do cybercrime look like in times of pandemics and economic crisis: Very good discount offers, and job offers! Who does not want more money, after all?

Things are getting even more dangerous when we, as CI2 did, start to realize that Cybersecurity people have become known targets. Why? Because they are information golden mines. Whoever deals with cybersecurity deals also with intelligence, and we need to know what the criminal mechanic is to defeat it.

The scam mechanic against tech-savvy people is very simple and comes to be a tactic, more commonly than ever, deployed by criminals: Scams are being advertised as an employment offer. Why shouldn’t you click on it, after all? Isn’t it so great that, during the pandemics, someone come to propose you a very good job through an e-mail, a job you have never looked for?

Well, no. Open up your eyes to good offers that seem to you like too ideal recruiters. If you deal with sensible information or with sensible topics (as CSAM, which is my case), you must keep your eyes open everywhere, but specially, in your LinkedIn or in your e-mail. Those are endpoints where people are going to try to get you, and you must be aware of it.

For cybersecurity professionals, intelligence one or CSAM specialist, keep in sight who you work for. We work on the side of the law, and it must remain so. If you would not work for anyone, why should you accept an offer, huge as it might be, from anyone? Why should you click on links they offer you, or even accept a meeting with anyone who is usually “observing you for a long time, and realized you have potential?”. Bullshit.

Open-source community, checking is or must be part of your daily life. Prior to accepting any invitation, clicking anything or sending anything whatsoever, always check it! If my advice for anyone who works only for one side is to stop answering everyone that wants to get in contact with you, my advice for recruiters is: If you want to get a great candidate, use the marketing to let the offer come to him, because those good guys they came to you, you never come to them.

Win-win so. CI2 works with risk reduction and here is the proposal: Recruiters should stop with weird, suspicious recruiting practices and candidates, stop to follow “spy or criminal-like” requests if they are not willing to accept them. But what if you get them? Report it to your Team, to the Police, to Cybercrime Hotlines. Report it. As such, not only the cybercriminal couldn’t get you, but he will need to change his credentials: The time you reported it, intelligence burnt it.