Security researchers have discovered a group of fake LinkedIn recruitment accounts used to collect information about security experts.
A group of fake recruitment accounts is abusing the professional social network LinkedIn to send job offers to security professionals in various industries. The fake employers attempt to deceive targets, usually using a LinkedIn profile with a picture of an attractive woman.
Security professionals who are targets of the campaign receive multiple job offers per day from the group.
The alarm was raised by expert Yonathan Klijnsma from security firm Fox-IT a few weeks ago, later Security Consultant from F-Secure Sean Sullivan analyzed in detail the fake LinkedIn accounts used by the group. Sullivan discovered that they belong to people who supposedly work for Talent Src (Talent Sources).
The fake accounts use images from a number of reputable LinkedIn accounts or photos taken from Instagram.
Sullivan noted that the Talent Scr company logo was also fake, and it appears that the same fake company also used a Twitter account that hasn’t been updated since January and has only posted two tweets.
What is the goal of the fake recruitment group?
The threat actor behind the group is trying to map the network of connections of cybersecurity experts.
Leveraging social media to gather information, especially through professional social media sites like LinkedIn, is a common practice among threat actors.
A few months ago, researchers from iSight Partners uncovered a group of Iranian hackers who used more than a dozen fake profiles to infiltrate social networking sites for the purpose of cyber espionage.
Iranian spies used a network of fake accounts (reporter networks) on major social media to spy on American officials and political employees around the world, according to analysis published by iSIGHT Partners.
