Generating dedicated content for defeating file sharing phishing attacks

Working remotely under the COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to the demand for cloud-based technology, including online file sharing and cloud storage services. However, attackers have recently abused these platforms and propagated the emails that contain a file-sharing link to bypass the email filter. A typical example is that criminals can easily create and share phishing forms through legitimate form builders, e.g., Google Form to trick users into handing over sensitive information such as password or credit card number. This attack is hard to be detected by traditional detection schemes since there is no malicious content delivered in the email, and the links can be created quickly.

The objective of this project is to analyse the emerging phishing attacks and automatically generate security contents for file sharing links, e.g., warnings or indicators to help users understand the attacks and identify phishing emails before getting harmed. A prototype would be developed to be integrated into the major email clients, e.g., Outlook, Gmail.