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Why Cybercriminals Go Phishing
To Take Advantage of Technology & Busy Lifestyles to Gain
Access to Confidential Information
Personal Accounts
Corporate Accounts
Company Data
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Training for Password Requests
Particularly Important for Larger Companies
Employees May Not Know All Staff
Easier to Pose as a Member of the Company
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Create Password Policies
Never Provide Employee Passwords to Anyone
Ensure Company Never Requests Employee Passwords
Employees Will Know Any Request is a Scam
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Training to Identify Scam Emails
Emails with Links & Attachments
Unrecognizable Sender
Unexpected Attachment
Bring Suspicious Emails to IT Department
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Take Your Time
Do Not Review Emails Too Quickly!
Scammer May “Spoof” a Familiar Email Address
Quick Review May Miss Slight Difference
Example: One Letter Wrong or Missing
Phishing emails are seeping into inboxes more and more these days so it is crucial your employees understand how to avoid being scammed.
In this webinar, ‘Don’t Get Caught by Phishing Emails!’ we share some tips for safeguarding your organization.
Email phishing scams have been around for quite a while, but they are becoming a larger threat in the more recent years. These types of emails take advantage of technology and people’s busy lifestyles in an attempt to gain access to sensitive information. This information could be personal banking information, or corporate information that could give the individuals responsible access to confidential company data. With years of practice these scammers are able to make themselves look like someone you know, or at least mask themselves as a member of your organization. All it takes is one time to catch someone off guard, and they can have access to things that can cause a lot of damage.
Amber Interjection
Chad, what are some ways to be on the lookout for phishing scams?
Training and caution are some of the biggest tools you can arm your employees with, especially when your company is large in size. For larger companies, each employee might not be fully aware of the staff the company has which makes them more vulnerable to phishing attempts.
For example, if an employee isn’t aware of all of the IT staff currently employed, they may be tricked into responding to an email requesting their password so a new application can be set up for them. They may unknowingly give passwords or remote access to an individual who isn’t part of your organization.
It is recommended that you put policies in place to prevent things like this from happening. Most banking institutions tell their customers that they will never ask for their pin number or passwords, and this practice can be put to use within your organization as well. Ensuring your employees know not to provide their password to anyone, including IT staff, helps protect them from exposing information that could lead to unfortunate consequences.
Amber Interjection
Those are great points, Chad. Do you have any tips for spotting phishing emails?
For starters, while having rules set up for employees to not give out their passwords is helpful, phishing emails can use other tactics to gain access to a user’s computer and information.
Training employees to be extra careful with any emails including links or attachments is another good practice. If the email isn’t from someone who is recognized, or the attachment wasn’t expected, they should bring it to the IT staff’s attention before clicking any link or downloading attachments. Clicking or opening these objects could download malicious software to the user’s computer which could then be used to access their files or the company’s network.
Beyond these training steps employees will still need to exercise caution when opening emails and not move too quickly. It has also been known for hackers to use the email address and profile picture of an employee or email contact you are familiar with to “spoof” their emails. In most cases you will see a familiar picture and email address, but upon further inspection a letter in the email address will be missing or incorrect in a spot that isn’t easily noticed. This is their attempt to catch someone who speeds through their emails.
At any rate, training your employees on these tactics and letting them know to be cautious and vigilant when reading their emails is a very important step to take in preventing phishing attempts.
Amber Wrap-up & Close
Thank you, Chad! These tips for keeping an eye out for phishing scams are very helpful.
Take at look at our Advanced IT Services which include security consulting services such as providing training for in-house personnel and implementing security best practices.
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