Could you be hacked through Slack?

The usage of collaboration platforms such as Microsoft Teams and Slack has significantly increased, with nearly 80% of employees utilizing them. These platforms are designed to be convenient and easily manageable for daily conversations within organizations. However, what makes them easy and convenient also renders them vulnerable to cyber threats and attacks. In 2021, for instance, 780 gigabytes of data from the gaming giant Electronic Arts (EA) were breached through Slack!

During the same year, a security vulnerability in Microsoft Teams was exploited to launch a widespread cyber attack on numerous organizations and companies worldwide, resulting in the leakage of sensitive information and service disruption for many users.

Collaboration platforms face various cyber threats, including phishing and social engineering, especially with the emergence of artificial intelligence and applications like ChatGPT as new threats. Hackers exploit these applications to write malware and devise more sophisticated social engineering attacks.

One of the cybersecurity experts says:

“Collaboration platforms (Microsoft Teams – Slack) have now become easier to breach than email.”

This new method of infiltration poses several risks:

• Leakage of sensitive information and personal data:

Penetrating collaboration tools like Microsoft Teams and Slack can lead to the leakage of sensitive information such as strategic plans, financial information, and personal data of employees and clients.

This information can be exploited in fraudulent activities, extortion, and leaked to external parties.

• Disruption of business operations and permanent data loss:

If collaboration tools are breached and disabled, operations within the organization may come to a halt, leading to a loss of time and resources.

This could result in significant financial losses due to downtime and negative impacts on reputation and customer relations. For instance, Zoom paid $8 million due to such attacks!

• Increase in internal threats:

In addition to external attacks, the system may be exposed to internal threats through the compromise of employee accounts.

Attackers may exploit compromised accounts to leak confidential information or execute destructive actions within the organization, exposing the company to serious internal risks.

The Solution

Most companies use a variety of collaboration, communication, and data-sharing tools. To ensure the security of these tools, companies need to focus on some key practices:

• Maintain strong passwords according to standards.
• Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA).
• Provide regular training for employees on digital security awareness.
• Regularly review and update software to patch potential security vulnerabilities.

Additionally, when choosing these platforms, look for solutions designed with end-to-end security, with real end-to-end security using the latest TLS standards, not just symmetric encryption.

Secure solutions should also provide the organization with full control over all aspects of the collaboration platform, including all direct user experiences and interactions.