Systems and methods for security awareness using ad-based simulated phishing attacks

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11997136-B2
Application number	US-202217982412-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 7, 2022
Priority date	Jul 31, 2020
Publication date	May 28, 2024
Grant date	May 28, 2024

Abstract

Systems and methods are described for modifying one or more advertisements of a webpage or a social media feed to create a simulated cybersecurity attack. Initially, content responsive to a request by a user via a user device to access a webpage or social media feed with one or more advertisements is received. One or more advertisements are detected within the content. An advertisement of the one or more advertisements is modified or replaced with simulated cybersecurity attack advertisements. The webpage or social media feed with the modified advertisement is displayed to the user device. User interactions with the simulated cybersecurity attack content are tracked and training is provided based on user interactions.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
identifying, by one or more processors, one or more sources providing advertisements;
analyzing, by the one or more processors, one or more structures of one or more advertisements provided by the one or more sources;
determining, by the one or more processors based at least on analyzing, one of code construction or content to use for an advertisement within an advertisement-based simulated phishing attack to prevent from being blocked by an advertisement blocker;
generating, by the one or more processors, an advertisement to use within the advertisement-based simulated phishing attack based at least on one of the code construction or the content;
generating, by the one or more processors, the advertisement-based simulated phishing attack to include the generated advertisement and
communicating, by the one or more processors the advertisement-based simulated phishing attack to one or more devices of one or more users.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more sources comprises one of a social media platform, a social media feed or a website.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising analyzing, by the one or more processors, the one or more structures of the one or more advertisements to evaluate which of the one or more advertisements have a higher probably not to be blocked by the advertisement blocker.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising generating, by the one or more processors based at least one of the code construction or the content, a new advertisement for use within the advertisement-based simulated phishing attack and to include with one or more other advertisements as part of the advertisement-based simulated phishing attack.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising modifying, by the one or more processors, one of the code construction or the content of an existing advertisement to generate the advertisement for the advertisement-based simulated phishing attack.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining, by the one or more processors, a latest one or more structures currently used in the one or more advertisements provided by the one or more sources to use for the advertisement within the advertisement-based simulated phishing attack to provide a higher probability of the advertisement-based simulated phishing attack reaching the one or more users without being blocked by the advertisement blocker.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising determining, by the one or more processors, a change in the one or more structures used in the one or more advertisements provided by the one or more sources.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising modifying, by the one or more processors using one of the code construction or the content, an existing advertisement-based simulated phishing attack to provide the advertisement-based simulated phishing attack with a higher probability of not being blocked by the advertisement blocker.

9. A system comprising:
one or more processors, coupled to memory and configured to:
identify one or more sources providing advertisements;
analyze one or more structures of one or more advertisements provided by the one or more sources;
determine, based at least on analyzing, one of code construction or content to use for an advertisement within an advertisement-based simulated phishing attack that to prevent from being blocked by an advertisement blocker;
generate an advertisement to use within the advertisement-based simulated phishing attack based at least on one of the code construction or the content;
generate the advertisement-based simulated phishing attack to include the generated advertisement and
communicate the advertisement-based simulated phishing attack to one or more devices of one or more users.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the one or more sources comprises one of a social media platform, a social media feed or a website.

11. The system of claim 9 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to analyze the one or more structures of the one or more advertisements to evaluate which of the one or more advertisements have a higher probably to be blocked by the advertisement blocker.

12. The system of claim 9 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to generate, based at least one of the code construction or the content, a new advertisement for use within the advertisement-based simulated phishing attack and to include with one or more other advertisements as part of the advertisement-based simulated phishing attack.

13. The system of claim 9 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to modify one of the code construction or the content of an existing advertisement to generate the advertisement for the advertisement-based simulated phishing attack.

14. The system of claim 9 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to determine latest one or more structures currently used in the one or more advertisements provided by the one or more sources to use for the advertisement within the advertisement-based simulated phishing attack to provide a higher probability of the advertisement-based simulated phishing attack reaching the one or more users without being blocked by the advertisement blocker.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to determine a change in the one or more structures used in the one or more advertisements provided by the one or more sources.

16. The system of claim 9 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to modify, using one of the code construction or the content, an existing advertisement-based simulated phishing attack to provide the advertisement-based simulated phishing attack with a higher probability of not being blocked by the advertisement blocker.

Assignees

• Knowbe4 Inc

Inventors

• Kras Greg
• Cline Chris

Classifications

• H04L63/1483 Primary

  service impersonation, e.g. phishing, pharming or web spoofing (detection of rogue wireless access points H04W12/12) · CPC title

• G09B19/0053

  Computers, e.g. programming · CPC title

• G09B5/02

  with visual presentation of the material to be studied, e.g. using film strip · CPC title