Making Tech Headlines · Page 7
Knicks phishing exercise puts a championship ring in the inbox
· New York time
The Knicks reportedly sent employees a fake offer of championship rings as a corporate phishing test, Ars Technica reports. The offer was part of an internal security exercise, not an announcement that staff would receive the jewelry. Such exercises imitate suspicious messages to test employees' responses. This one chose an unusually emotional incentive: a reward tied directly to the organization receiving the email. A generic gift card apparently lacked sufficient dramatic tension. The test illustrates a challenge for workplace security training. A message can seem attractive precisely because it appears relevant to the recipient's job and institution. Familiarity can make an offer feel more plausible without establishing that the sender or link is genuine. The available reporting does not establish how many employees clicked or whether the exercise improved security. Its memorable feature is the choice of bait, not a demonstrated outcome for the training program. For staff, the imagined journey from championship jewelry to security lesson is a particularly efficient reduction in workplace excitement. One moment the inbox offers a lasting symbol of victory; the next it offers educational material. The franchise found a basketball trick play that required no court at all, just an email and the reasonable hope that somebody at work had decided to be generous.
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