Call protection provider YouMail and mobile threat intelligence specialist WMC Global have partnered to defend brands and their customers from “vishing” and “smishing” attacks.
Vishing refers to phishing attacks that involve the use of voice calls, using either conventional phone systems or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) systems. Smishing pertains to phishing attacks that involve the use of messages sent using SMS (Short Message Service). Smishing attacks entail false text messages to would-be victims who either reply directly or visit a phishing web site.
Enhancing Vishing and Smishing Protections
Mobile phones are the center of consumers' digital lives, with 97% of Americans owning smart phones and threat actors knowingly targeting them with spam and scam SMS and voice calls, YouMail asserts. In response, YouMail is combining its voice and vishing protection with WMC Global’s SMS and smishing protection services “to act as two sides of the mobile fraud disruption coin.”
The enjoined technologies enable enterprises plagued by threat actors to mitigate these risks and improve their effectiveness at preventing fraud and protect their customers, the companies said. Toward that outcome, YouMail Protective Services classifies, monitors and disrupts threat actors using voice to target consumers for both impersonated brands and voice service providers used as the conduits for phone-based attacks.
YouMail CEO Alex Quilici described the advantages of the partnership with WMC Global:
"With this marriage of voice and SMS protection, enterprises like banks now have a powerful weapon against threat actors using mobile phishing attacks against their customers. Our specialized voice protection, coupled with WMC Global's suite of anti-phishing SMS safeguards, solves a complicated industry issue that affects brand reputation and millions of mobile users."
WMC Global notes that it's Anti-Phishing Suite takes down mobile threats before a victim's personal data is exploited. As WMC Global CEO Ian Matthews explained:
"Partnering with YouMail to develop this joint offering was the next logical step in our fight against unwanted messaging and malicious phishing attacks on consumers' mobile devices. Our specific combination of services effectively helps telecoms uncover unlawful calls and texts made on their networks, prevents brand impersonation, and protects their customers from potential identity theft."
A Closer Look at YouMail, WMC Global
YouMail, based in Irvine, California, protects more 11 million registered consumers with app-based call protection services in the U.S. and the U.K., with the YouMail, Another Number, and Hullo Mail apps, and identifies and targets robocallers through its Robocall Index.
WMC Global, headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia, specializes in fighting malicious text messages, eradicating phishing attacks, stopping cyber criminals from targeting large brands, financial institutions, and governments, and monitoring consumer experiences for industry compliance. The company provides its partners with proprietary data feeds of phishing attacks (including live phishing kits), threat response and takedown services, automated partner due diligence and customer experience monitoring.
