Falling for a phishing scam can be no only embarrassing, but a true danger to your organization and confidential information. Anyone who uses the Internet must know how deal with them.
You’ve been hearing about phishing scams for years, and probably think that only gullible people fall for these obvious security hacks. However, even CEOs fall for them, and there may come a day when you fall for one, too.
Phishing attacks are increasingly sophisticated and becoming more difficult to spot. How can you avoid getting caught in the net of a phishing scam?
There are several types of phishing attacks. In general, they include any type of fraudulent activity that attempts to steal personal information using the Internet. Attacks from ID theft of personal passwords, personally identifiable information, credit card numbers and more take place daily in mass quantities around the world.
The term phishing started with hackers, who historically used “ph” instead of “f” in typing, and is one of the key ways that cybercriminals are able to trick people into giving out sensitive data. Phishing attacks can come via pop-up messages on websites that aren’t secure, or via emails asking for personal information. It’s important that you maintain the tightest security posture when checking email, browsing on social media sites, or surfing the Web.
Between WannaCry and the latest ransomware attack dubbed Petya, these hacker-led appeals for Bitcoin and other non-traceable currencies are happening around the world with increasing frequency—and with devastating consequences. Hospitals, financial institutions and even airports are being targeted as high-return targets.
The common theme is a seemingly innocuous pop-up letting users know their files have been encrypted. The next message tells them how to pay the ransom to the hackers, who (supposedly) will unlock the code once the money arrives. Global security concerns caused by ransomware are increasing. These attacks have the potential to shut down a business when they can’t function without their data.
It may seem that your employees are intentionally causing problems when they continue to fall for phishing scams, even with repeated training. However, are they just complacent or is there a real issue? The truth is, the majority of employees are reactive, and expect that any messages that find their way to a corporate inbox have already been vetted through rigorous security protocols.
The frightening fact is that while nearly 10 percent of phishing scams can lead to a data breach, most employees aren’t on a constant lookout for threats. Plus, there’s an overwhelming ignorance about the security dangers on unsecured public WiFi, over email, on the Web and even on the phone. Threat actors are upping their game–And stressed, overworked business people simply may not stop to think about the dangers of clicking on that pop-up for free or deeply-discounted pizza.
It’s getting tougher to avoid phishing attacks simply because they don’t look as “fishy” or fake as they used to. Today’s hackers are smart and subtle, and they’re constantly honing their craft in the hopes of getting more people to take a bite out of what they’re offering. Here are some tips that IT professionals suggest to stay safe:
Promoting cybersecurity awareness at your organization can go a long way towards keeping phishing attacks from taking hold. Want to learn more about cybersecurity and how to stop phishing attacks in their tracks? Contact us today to learn more about managed security services.
The three sectors with the biggest spending on cybersecurity are banking, manufacturing, and the central/federal government, accounting for 30% of overall spending (IDC).
40% of businesses will incorporate the anywhere operations model to accommodate the physical and digital experiences of both customers and employees (Techvera).
The average cost of a data breach in the United States is $8.64 million, which is the highest in the world, while the most expensive sector for data breach costs is the healthcare industry, with an average of $7.13 million (IBM).
Forty-three percent of attacks are aimed at SMBs, but only 14% are prepared to defend themselves (Accenture).
The internal team was energized. With the Level 1 work off its plate, the team turned its attention to the work that fueled company growth and gave them job satisfaction.
The cost of cybercrime is predicted to hit $10.5 trillion by 2025, according to the latest version of the Cisco/Cybersecurity Ventures “2022 Cybersecurity Almanac.”.
More than 33 billion records will be stolen by cybercriminals by 2023, an increase of 175% from 2018.
It takes an average of 287 days for security teams to identify and contain a data breach, according to the “Cost of a Data Breach 2021” report released by IBM and Ponemon Institute.
We did a proof of concept that met every requirement that our customer might have. In fact, we saw a substantial improvement.
We did everything that we needed to do, financially speaking. We got our invoices out to customers, we deposited checks, all the things we needed to do to keep our business running, and our customers had no idea about the tragedy. It didn’t impact them at all.
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