Who Can Protect Your New England Business From Phishing?

How To Protect Your Business From Phishing

October is Cybersecurity Awareness month, which makes it the perfect time to ask an important question…

Have You Ever Wondered Whether an Email Was Real or Not?

Maybe it was an uncharacteristic email from your boss, asking you to urgently send money to a specific account.

Maybe it was an email from your bank telling you that you need to reset your online banking password.

Maybe it was an email from your accountant asking you to confirm sensitive financial data.

These emails are all part of a cybercrime scam called phishing. Ideally, the nature of these emails made you stop and suspect that they’re not real. If so, good for you – a healthy suspicion is key to protecting against common scams.

Unfortunately, many, many other users aren’t skeptical enough to spot a scam. In fact, more than half of all Americans say they’ve been the victim of a scam.

What Is Phishing & Why Is It Dangerous?

Phishing is a method in which cybercriminals send fraudulent emails that appear to be from reputable sources in order to get recipients to reveal sensitive information and execute significant financial transfers.

The key phishing’s effectivity is how unsuspecting the target is. The fact is that businesses aren’t learning to protect themselves, which is why the number of reported phishing attacks has gone up by 65% in the past few years.

Phishing succeeds when a cybercriminal uses fraudulent emails or texts, and counterfeit websites to get you to share your personal or business information like your login passwords, Social Security Number or account numbers. They do this to rob you of your identity and steal your money.

Phishing emails are typically crafted to deliver a sense of urgency and importance. The message within these emails often appears to be from the government, a bank or a major corporation and can include realistic-looking logos and branding.

The scammer will typically insist that you click on a link in an email or reply with confidential information to verify an account. They may also attempt to install ransomware on your computer that will lock you out of your files until you pay a fee.

Don’t forget – the average phishing attack costs businesses $1.6 million.

What Do All Phishing Emails Have In Common?

Share these tips with your employees to ensure they know how to spot a phishing attempt:

1. Watch For Overly Generic Content And Greetings: Cybercriminals will send a large batch of emails. Look for examples like “Dear valued customer.”
2. Examine The Entire From Email Address: The first part of the email address may be legitimate, but the last part might be off by a letter or may include a number in the usual domain.
3. Look For Urgency Or Demanding Actions: “You’ve won! Click here to redeem a prize,” or “We have your browser history pay now or we are telling your boss.”
4. Carefully Check All Links: Mouse over the link and see if the link’s destination matches where the email implies you will be taken.
5. Notice Misspellings, Incorrect Grammar, & Odd Phrasing: This might be a deliberate attempt to try and bypass spam filters.
6. Don’t Click On Attachments Right Away: Virus containing attachments might have an intriguing message encouraging you to open them such as “Here is the Schedule I promised.”

What’s The Best Way To Protect Against Phishing?

There’s an easy solution – work with Acapella Technologies. Our range of IT security solutions safeguard your data and protect you from cybercriminals. As your strategic technology partner, our team will make sure you have the right IT security solutions in place.

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