How to Protect Your Business from Sophisticated Phishing Scams

Know-How to Detect and Prevent Phishing Scams

A business needs to understand how dangerous phishing scams are, how to prevent them, and the importance of hiring an experienced managed IT team.  

The average employee receives dozens of emails each day. The pressure to scan through them as quickly as possible often leads employees to click on links that can leave them susceptible to a variety of phishing attacks. Phishing scams are becoming more sophisticated and challenging to detect. According to Forbes, American businesses lose half a billion dollars a year in phishing scams. The following information is everything a company should know about why these types of scams are so dangerous and the best ways to prevent them.

What are Phishing Scams?

Webroot describes a phishing scam as an online scheme in which criminals send emails that appear to be from legitimate sources. It might appear to be sent from an individual’s bank, credit card company, or the CEO of their company. Often a link is included that the individual can click on. This takes the person to a fake website that looks identical to one the bank or credit card company has. Any personal information or account numbers that the person gives out on the fake site is then taken and used by criminals. Sometimes the email tells the employee that their boss needs sensitive data sent as quickly as possible.

Why are they so dangerous?

Everything from personal information to corporate trade secrets can be stolen through phishing scams. Once this information is taken, criminals may blackmail a company or use the data in ways that can severely damage an organization. CRN points out several ways phishing scams are becoming more sophisticated and why they are so dangerous.

• Artificial Intelligence Phishing Apps – Many types of phishing scams are detectible once a person has been educated regarding the tactics scammers use. With the increase in artificial intelligence (AI) phishing apps, these scams are increasingly becoming more sophisticated and challenging to tell from authentic emails.
• Audio Deep Fakes – Criminals can now pull video clips of executives speaking and using technology, put together a vocal impersonation of a particular CEO. These fake audios and videos are then used to convince employees to make substantial money transfers or divulge sensitive data.
• Clone Phishing – This involves a hacker intercepting a real email that was sent or received by an executive in a company. They then use this as a blueprint to create a fake email. The fake email is sent to various employees in an attempt to gain company information.

How Can You Prevent Them?

The most important way to prevent phishing scams is to provide ongoing employee education. The following are tips that can be used to help employees recognize a phishing scam.

• Emails that begin with “Dear Customer” are an indication of a potential scam. Financial institutions will know the names of their customers.
• Emails that contain several grammatical or punctuation errors should be considered a possible scam.
• Emails that instruct the recipient to sign into their accounts using only the link they provide is a red flag.
• If something looks suspicious, contact the organization or individual directly with a phone call or by sending out a separate email.

The Federal Trade Commission states that if someone has already responded to a phishing attack, the person should immediately update their computer’s software and run a scan. They also advise contacting identitytheft.com.

What Can Atlantic-IT.net Do for You?

Whether it’s sophisticated phishing scams, destructive malware, or elaborate hacking schemes, it’s more important than ever to have the best security system possible for your business. Atlantic-IT.net provides cloud services, security solutions, and expertly managed services in New Jersey. They have experience working with several specific industries, including hospitality, manufacturing, healthcare, law, banking, and real estate. Whether it’s a small business or a large corporation, Atlantic-IT can identify risks, provide ongoing testing, and customize an individualized approach to security that meets the specific needs of an organization. Contact Atlantic-IT.net for a confidential consultation.