Kustura Technologies is always looking out for your company’s BEST INTEREST.
This is why we developed our Top 5 Smart Steps to Outsmart Phishing Scams guide. You can download this guide in PDF form to share with your employees and/or co-workers. It is a great tool to educate your team on Phishing.
Statistics show that 91 percent of cyber-attacks begin with a phishing email. Now, I know what you’re thinking…”Why would someone click on something they feel is a red flag?” We all read Curious George growing up, so it’s safe to assume that most of these incidents are a result of employees being curious. However, people often fall for “the hook” because they think it’s an authentic email from corporate or from within the company.
The best way to prevent Phishing Scams is by making sure your business understands what “Phishing” is and what it looks like. According to Phishing.org, “Phishing is a cybercrime in which a target or targets are contacted by email, telephone or text message by someone posing as a legitimate institution to lure individuals into providing sensitive data such as personally identifiable information, banking and credit card details, and passwords. The information is then used to access important accounts and can result in identity theft and financial loss.” Review our guide below so your company can start outsmarting hackers today! (Scroll to the bottom if you want to download a PDF version of our guide)
5 Smart Steps to Outsmart Phishing Scams
1. Establish a Company Protocol for Reporting “phishy” (see what I did there?) emails
First, it is extremely important for companies, no matter the size, to report suspicious emails. Reports have found that around 52% of businesses say their workforce reports less than a quarter of the suspicious emails they receive. Being diligent and reporting these types of emails to your IT Provider is very helpful. Anytime Kustura Technologies receives a call from a customer about a potentially harmful email or link, we check it for malware. Establishing a protocol for your employees to follow is critical in the event someone accidentally clicks a harmful link. If one employee clicks the link, this could affect the entire company. In the event this email is dangerous, it allows us to block that sender from your inbox and quarantine any files that may have been at risk from this email or link. This step is very important.
2. Learn what to look for
What does this mean? Learn to look for common words or phrases used in Phishing emails. Examples include: incorrect spelling/grammar, requests for sensitive information (passwords, credit card info, etc.), unusual threats, and incorrect links. Unusual threats are anything within the email stating something will happen because you did not or will not provide the information the email is requesting. This includes messages about your account being removed, account being locked, etc. Incorrect links are the most important items to look for. Hover your mouse (DO NOT CLICK) over the following link: Kustura.com. When you hover, you can see that the actual link is for a website called “kusturaa.com”. Hackers can use this tactic to mimic websites. When these “fake sites” ask you to login, they’re actually stealing your login information. Always hover over a link to verify it’s correct before clicking it. For current Kustura customers, if you were still unsure of the link, your company could call our tech support to verify the link for you to prevent any Phishing of information.
3. Create unique passwords
Statistics show most passwords are composed from a majority of these selections: your first name, your last name, your anniversary, your favorite number, your pet’s name, your children’s names, your children’s birthdays, etc. A quick look at your Facebook can give a hacker all the clues they need to figure out your password. This is even worse if you use the same password for multiple logins in various accounts. Creating DIFFERENT and UNIQUE password combinations of letters, numbers, and symbols is a great way to stay protected. Here is a great example of a sophisticated password: g00d1u(k! Create something that is difficult for a stranger to figure out. Is it annoying having to remember different and unique passwords? Of course it is! However, it can prevent you and your company from dealing with any data breach in the future.
4. Invest in a Cyber Security Service
This service plays a significant role in catching Phishing attempts before they reach your inbox. Kustura Technologies offers free Cyber Security assessments to help evaluate your company’s current protection. Having a strong Cyber Security defense is great for protecting business and personal data from Phishing and hackers. Without any Cyber Security Service, Anti-virus software, etc. you are leaving your company vulnerable to these threats. Contact our team at Kustura Technologies for your free Cyber Security Assessment to keep your company data protected.
5. Check the senders email address
The same way we talked about hovering over a link included within an email to make sure it’s authentic, do the same thing to email addresses. At least 5x a day I will get an email from “Facebook”, “Amazon”, and “Yahoo” about confirming my account. The emails look just like they are coming from the company they are representing. However when I hover over the senders email address, I find a random email with no affiliation to the above mentioned companies. Let’s say your inbox has my information stored in your address book as “Stacey Howell”. Anytime I email you, you see my full name instead of my actual email address. Phishing scams will try to use contacts like this to hack your account. Let’s look at two examples: 1. Stacey Howell and 2. Stacey Howell. Both of these links appear to be links for my contact information. Except they are not. If you hover over if each link (DO NOT CLICK) you will see only 1 of them is my authentic saved email contact information.
Remember that educating your employees or co-workers is the best way to protect your business from Phishing Scams. Be sure to share Kustura Technologies 5 Smart Steps to Outsmart Phishing Scams across your company to be proactive. If something in an email seems “off”, go with your instinct. Contact our Tech Support right away for any questions regarding potential Phishing Scams. Kustura Technologies has your business covered 24/7 with around-the-clock support.
If your company is not a current customer of Kustura Technologies and you would like more information about our Managed IT Services, including Cyber Security, contact us using the form below.
