Fake Christmas Bonus: A company apologizes to its employees

An American company on Thursday admitted to cheating its employees by email, giving them a Christmas bonus in the midst of a financial crisis and actually doing a good job after it became a test for computer security.

A spokesman for Godaddy, the largest company, told AFP: “We have learned that some employees were upset with our fishing attempt and that it was brutal. We apologize for that.” Internet domain name management for the world.

“While this test mimics real efforts (computer attacks) happening these days, we need to show more sympathy for our employees,” the company said in Arizona.

About 500 employees clicked on an email from Godaddy in mid-December announcing a 50,650 Christmas bonus and asked to fill out a form with some personal information.

Two days later, a completely different message appeared in their inbox.

“You are receiving this email because you failed our recent fishing test,” Godaddy’s security chief wrote to them, the local newspaper Copper Courier reported.

The technology of phishing is widely used by computer hackers, who send emails pretending to be known interlocutors with the aim of obtaining information that allows intrusions of targeted computer systems.

The initiative caused a stir on social media as millions of Americans were severely affected by the financial crisis linked to the pandemic.