Cyber crims target work from home with Ai, expert warns

Retired detective superintendent Brian Hay says cybercriminals are targeting people working from home using Ai technology to steal funds.

Fraudsters are using strikingly convincing AI voice cloning tools to steal from people by impersonating family members.

Retired detective superintendent Brian Hay says cybercriminals are coming for us at home.

Hay, who used to head up the Queensland Police fraud and cybercrime group and now runs Brisbane-based Cultural Cyber Security (CCS), says new-age cyber criminals will exploit Ai to target our homes and families, particularly those working from home.

“They are coming after you in your home and via your private connections,” says Hay. “With more employees working from home, cyber criminals see home networks as easier targets compared to well-protected corporate networks.

One method crims will employ to part victims and their money will be through business email compromise (BEC) – which is a form of targeted phishing where the scammer uses an email to trick someone into sending money or divulging confidential company info.

“The culprit poses as a trusted figure, then asks for a fake bill to be paid or for sensitive data they can use in another scam,” says Hay. According to the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC), self-reported BEC losses amounted to almost $80 million during 2022-2023.

Cyber-security expert Brian Hay.

On average, the financial loss from each BEC incident was more than $39,000, impacting both individuals, and small-to-medium businesses. Hay has organised a webinar on Wednesday, March 5 to help combat the evolving threat to people working-from-home.

Hay, who spent 37 years in the QPS, says finance and payroll departments had long been targets of BEC criminals, but last year criminals started to personalise their attacks.

“The trend is increasing due to increased remote work,” Hay says. “The criminals are approaching team members on the weekend via their own private email accounts, purporting to be the CEO or CFO, which is an extreme concern.”

The webinar will be the first of three planned for this year.

Star struck

Troubled Star Entertainment Group has continued to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on community partnerships in Queensland in a sign it remains committed to building its brand despite its deteriorating finances.

That includes the Brisbane Portrait Prize, Brisbane Festival, the Lady Mayoress Ball, Queensland Future Leaders’ Forum, Brisbane Bullets, Museum of Brisbane and Royal Queensland beer and wine awards.

Srar on the ropes.

Cementing ties

Brisbane-based Mayur Resources has launched an up to $100m two-tranche institutional share placement to help fund its lime and cement project in Papua New Guinea.

Mayur says funds will be used for the construction of a total of four kilns at the site to produce cement for both the domestic and export markets.

Barrenjoey Markets is acting as the lead manager and underwriter for the placement. The company says it plans to rebrand over the coming months to reflect its lime and cement focus for industrial development, and on reducing PNG’s reliance on imports while supplying building materials to Australia and the Pacific.

Located on the coast, 25km north of Port Moresby, and 7km from Exxon’s PNG LNG facility, the project has also been granted Special Economic Zone status from the PNG Government, securing a range of concessions including tax relief and duty exemptions.

Mayur executive chairman Richard Pegum says the rebrand will underscore the company’s commitment to supporting PNG and Australia’s infrastructure needs with reliable, locally manufactured products.

Originally published as Cyber crims target work from home with Ai, expert warns