IRS ISSUES PHISHING ALERT

The IRS is reporting that this year the phishing pond of choice is the executive suite.

W-2 email phishing scam – when your CEO is not your CEO

The IRS is reporting that this year the phishing pond of choice is the executive suite.

The crook poses as the CEO in this “imposter scam” and gets the company to turn over W-2 other sensitive HR records and data.

The crooks then file false tax returns or sell the data to other criminals.  Reporting and correcting individual and business tax fraud will be more difficult this year according to the IRS.

How to protect your company from phishing scams during tax season

One of the best safeguards against phishing is a well-written policy.  The policy needs to establish procedures for crucial data and document requests such as data transfer, w-2 copies, HR records.

Besides have a well written (and enforced) security policy, you need a Data loss prevention (DLP) strategy or application.  This will assure end users do not send sensitive or critical information outside the corporate network.

91% of successful data breaches start with a spear-phishing attack on a business

IT professionals know that no matter how sophisticated the technology, humans are the weakest link in any security system.

Cybercriminals are constantly trying to gain access to your valuable assets through a variety of social engineering and malware techniques. These techniques include phishing, link manipulation, Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) and ransomware.

Phishing simulation testing is an added layer of “preventive” security that every business needs. Atlantic-IT.net believes that having phishing simulation program in place is every bit as important as having a firewall.  The good news is that your Atlantic-IT.net account manager can help.

Atlantic-IT.net offers a best practices test that includes patching up your last line of defense against cybercriminals, your employees. Most companies stop with employee education. Atlantic-IT.net’s program not only includes education, but social engineering, spear-phishing, and a detailed report outlining the breaches along with the responsible parties.

To find out more about our special program designed for SMBs click on the following link: Lets Go Phishing