The Exploit: Anatomy of a Modern Cyber Heist Part 2: The Perfect Phish

Two weeks later, Chad was sitting at his desk, nearly vibrating with excitement. It was Wednesday, hump day, and he was finally going to meet some friends there after work; he could have gone earlier but one of his college friends was flying in later in the morning, and everyone decided they would rather wait to try the new place until he was with them. He was already thinking about how he could use the experience to make an inspirational post on LinkedIn about a healthy work/life balance and making sure to reward yourself for hard work. 

Chad scanned his emails and saw one with the subject line: Updated Invoice – Q2 Retainer.

The sender appeared to be Karen B., an account manager from a third-party vendor they’d worked with during their last system upgrade. The email was crisp and professional and looked exactly like past invoices. There were no typos or awkward phrasing, and it even referenced the name of a real finance system they used. It included a link to view the invoice, hosted, it claimed, on a new “secure vendor portal.” 

Chad had seen vendors move platforms before. Nothing about it raised an eyebrow. In fact, the timing made it even more believable. The quarter had just closed, and Chad had recently approved similar payments. The name “Karen B.” rang a bell from a past project, and the invoice amount was reasonable, well within normal ranges for the type of work described. Everything felt routine. So when the email mentioned a new secure portal to download the invoice, it didn't feel like a red flag. It felt like a standard vendor update. Chad clicked without hesitation.

The Hook

The link led him to what was supposedly the vendor’s new billing portal. But the login page looked identical to CYA Finance’s internal payment system—the one Chad used regularly to process outgoing invoices. The colors, the logo, the layout—everything was indistinguishable from the real thing. The domain name was subtly off, but close enough that it didn’t raise suspicion. And when he entered his credentials, it even prompted him for two-factor authentication, just like the real system would. He typed in the verification code sent to his phone. The screen blinked, then redirected to an error message: Session Timeout. Please try again later.

Frustrated but not suspicious, Chad moved on with his day, assuming it was a minor glitch or an issue on the vendor's side. What he didn’t realize was that the real issue had already begun.

Behind the Curtain

What Chad didn’t know was that he’d just handed over his login credentials and a valid MFA token to NullGhost. The portal was a proxy, built to mimic his company’s real system and intercept everything in real time.

NullGhost was now in. Fully authenticated. Fully invisible.

They quietly accessed finance records, copied vendor data, and began setting up additional redirect rules within ABC’s email system. Any message from the real vendor going forward? Auto-forwarded to NullGhost’s sandbox. That way, nothing would disrupt the illusion.

How the Phish Got So Perfect

This wasn’t a random phishing kit. It was targeted. Customized. Fueled by the data NullGhost had mined during their earlier recon. They knew Chad’s tone, his vendors, even how his company’s portals looked. Every detail made the lie believable. And every second Chad delayed reporting the error gave NullGhost more time to move.

Red Flags You Shouldn’t Ignore

• Unexpected invoices, even from known senders
• Domains that look right, but seem a little “off”
• Sites asking for multiple authentications without cause
• Session timeouts immediately after logging in

Phishing Resilience Starts Here

• Strong Email Policies: Invest in robust intelligent spam filters that catch well-crafted phishes and enforce policies that require verifying unexpected requests via independent verification (like a quick phone call or an internal ticketing system)
• Proactive Training: Train staff regularly with updated, frequent, real-time phishing simulations that teach them how to recognize suspicious emails and attachments, even ones that appear trustworthy
• Secure Configuration Management: Enforce browser policies that flag suspicious redirects, certificate warnings being bypassed, and block/flag access to known malicious or suspicious domains
• Identity and Access Management: Use identity protection that can detect MFA misuse or token replay
• File Analysis Tools: Equip your team with tools to scan and quarantine suspicious attachments automatically.

Chad thought he was paying an invoice. Instead, he opened the gates.

Coming up in Part 3: The Clone Trap

What happens when a fake login page isn’t just stealing credentials, but hijacking entire sessions?