March 9, 2022

Be On High Alert and Report Suspicious Phishing Activity

Due to U.S. sanctions targeting Russia as a result of the evolving conflict in Ukraine, current threat intelligence sources leveraged by Supreme Lending Information Security indicate critical infrastructure organizations, including financial services, are at greater risk of “destructive” malware attacks. This requires our organization to be on “high alert” for potential threats. Anticipated attack methods include distribution of phishing email messages to our employees, so we need your continued help as our “first line of defense” in order to protect Supreme Lending.

What Can You Do to Help Protect Supreme?

Be on the lookout for phishing messages, regardless if the message is “external” or “internal” from someone you know. In certain cases, phishing attacks can look like legitimate emails coming from other Supreme employees. Recently, we have seen several phishing methods used by hackers like the following:

• Subject lines that reference homeowner insurance, such as “HOI” or “Revised Contract.”
• Invoice or DocuSign attachments.
• Voicemail attachments.
• Malicious URL links that direct people to provide usernames and passwords.

Helpful Tips to Reduce Your Chances of Being Lured by Hackers

• Do not download attachments from unknown sources.
• If the email looks “highly questionable” and is coming from another employee, call them directly to see if they actually sent the message.
• Never share your login ID or password.
• Never use a common password for social media sites and Supreme Lending user accounts.
• Always question wire transfer requests received via an email.
• Look for poor grammar or spelling in the email message.
• Look at the sender address; if the email “looks” like it’s from an official source, such as a banking institution, the sender address would never contain Gmail, Hotmail, or other unrelated sources.

How to Report Something to Supreme Lending Information Security

• If you receive an email that looks questionable, please use the Report Phish button in Outlook, located in the control ribbon in the upper right.
• If you see any other suspicious activity on your computer, please use one of the below contact methods to report it:
  • Contact Information Security at IT-Security@SupremeLending.com.
  • Contact the IT Service Desk at 972.447.5690 or create a ticket via the Supreme Insight self-service portal.

If you have any questions regarding this message, please reach out to Mark.Nagiel@SupremeLending.com.