Phishing is a big concern of tech engineers. They are aware of the updates taking place in the world of technology, cybersecurity, and vulnerabilities.
Phishing is the most common of all cyber threats. The APWG’s Phishing Activity Trends Report for Q4 2021states that phishing attacks were at an all-time high in 2021. The frequency of these attacks can be estimated by the fact that December 2021 had a maximum of 300,000+ attempts recorded in December, which is 3X of the last two years.
This frequency can be minimized by training people who are working for you. They should understand the extent of this risk, how it takes place, and the way to successfully respond. Certainly, training can help in combating this cyber risk.
With training, employees become aware of where to look out for this threat, how to handle it, and finally terminate it.
Let’s discover the top-notch IT support for remote workers through this blog, and find how to manage things when phishing attacks. Here, we’ll get started with understanding it.
Where does It All Start From?
This is the most threatening and commonly seen cyberattack on any organisation. It mainly targets employees’ accounts to gather credentials. With them, cybercriminals impersonate individuals in the company.
Mostly, emails are selected to attempt this cybercrime, which is 91%. The hackers cast a suspicious link in your email messages. These days, they have selected social media also. Out of all, 62% of phishing simulations become successful in capturing at least one user’s credentials.
Definition of Phishing
In the nutshell, phishing can be defined as a malicious way of acquiring sensitive details like bank account credentials, credit card details, etc. by using a fake solicitation in an email or website. The hacker here pretends to be a real person who seeks information.
This is also recognised as barrel phishing, which aims at a large attack in a single attempt. The certified and trained tech support engineers also use the term spear phishing and whaling for it. However, the former term is related to targeted phishing whereas the latter is to impersonating a company’s CEO or another person.
Tips to Identify Phishing Attempts
There are some common indicators that can let you discover that it’s a phishing attack. Let’s have tech support to manage how to deal with it. Or, you can follow these signs:
- An unnecessary urgency shown, such as Can We Meet Right Now, in an email shows something fishy. Find out if there is any such urgency required. Some employees senselessly act and click the link without thinking twice.
- Grammatical errors or typos can also be a reason to sense that a phishing link might be inside.
- Such emails are not personalised if it’s barrel phishing. To attack a large group of people, it’s challenging to personalise that email.
- The sender’s name would have mistakes or sound insensible.
- If you get deeper, the body of the email does not resonate with a person.
All of these points can help you find out any phishing attempts.
Tips to Fight Phishing Emails
If you know about a spam blocker, your job is done. It’s the easiest way to keep such attempts at bay. But if the hacker has smartly played, you need the support of a professional and experienced technician. Get the best tech or computer support in place at that time to prevent this cybercrime from happening.
Prevention is the best cure. These tips can help you not only fight but also prevent such malicious attempts.
- Train Employees About How to Identify Phishing Emails
However, it’s challenging to protect employees from this attack. But, teaching can help them identify such emails in no time. Remember that hackers leave no stone unturned to prove legitimacy. They use real company logos, and details related to a registered company. Thankfully, there are some red flags that can reveal such attacks. A few points are shared above.
Here, you can get a bit deeper with those points.
- Typos and poor formatting: Cybercriminals are likely to use bots for creating such emails. They don’t have any staff or writers to draft it. So, the typos would be certainly there. Also, the formatting would be disturbed.
- No greeting in the beginning. The legitimate sender comes up with personalised reference to your name. It won’t be generic. It clearly shows that you’re targeted.
- No domain email: A domain name looks like .com or .in or any other one like these. Now, check if the sender’s email address has it. If not, this won’t be a legitimate sender. A reputed company owns its own domain email.
- Unsolicited attachments or information requests: Authentic senders won’t attach any file unless you have requested it. If you didn’t ask for it, avoid clicking the attachment. A click on that can let you compromise your sensitive details.
- Introduce Employees with Real-life examples
This is the best way to let your employees understand everything about this cybercrime. Introduce them to the real-life attempts that any company or person suffered from. Also, reveal the impact of a data breach (loss). This will help your employees to thoroughly understand and get ready for defeating hackers in the future. The loss of money or damage to the company or any other tangible fact that proves the loss will be a big lesson.
It’s not like your employees are careless. With this introduction, they would be more aware and serious about the sensitivity of this attack.
- Install Trusted Antivirus & Update
- Humans may make mistakes: Despite all this training, accidents may occur. The trained employees may accidentally become a victim. To avoid such mistakes, it’s better to hire a tech support company. It would timely install a trusted antivirus and frequently update it whenever its up version comes.
- Antivirus isn’t a set-it-and-forget-it: Having an antivirus in place does not mean that you are free to click and underestimate what that training has provided. It’s a preventive measure. Look for the best tech support that can consistently monitor all devices of the company from anywhere. It can provide complete protection.
- Let Employees Take Ownership
The frequency of these attempts is a matter of big concern. It’s increasing by leaps and bounds. Therefore, the ownership is required to defeat hackers. They should have a sense of urgency to protect the company’s assets and data. If it’s there, the whaling attacks can never be a success.
So, it’s compulsory to ignite this sense of duty among employees from the very top to the very bottom level.
All of these arrangements can help you fight phishing attempts easily.
Summary
To stop phishing attacks, there is a need for proper training for employees. Ensure that all of them are a part of that training. Let them understand the indicators like typos, mistakes in the content of the email, incorrect domain email, and more. Explaining real-life examples can help a lot.
