One of the most common ways hackers gain access to sensitive or confidential information is through phishing scams.
Scammers attempt to trick you into revealing personal information such as bank account information, passwords, and credit card details.
Your company is at risk if your employees do not recognize the signs of phishing attempts.
In this blog, we’ll talk about 5 signs of phishing attempts so you can learn how to spot scams and protect yourself.
Let’s start!
#1 Unfamiliar Greeting
Greetings are a common indicator of a phishing attempt.
If the signature in the email sounds more generic- Dear sir/madam, Dear customer, Dear client, and so on it could be a sign of a spear-phishing attempt.
Typically, no organization sends generic greetings to their customers/clients. Instead, they address their customers/clients by name.
If a legitimate organization sends an email, it will include a contact number in the signature block.
If you notice the mail and no contact information in the signature block, it could be a scam.
If a message appears strange, look for other signs that it could be a phishing email.
#2 Spelling and Grammar Errors
Bad spelling and grammar are two of the most common indicators of a phishing email.
For outbound emails, most businesses have the spell check feature enabled in their email client.
Most web browsers also allow you to use autocorrect or highlight features.
As a result, you would expect emails from a professional source to be exempt from grammar and spelling errors.
Many scammers are from non-English-speaking countries so even if they use a spellchecker you will probably be able to spot some grammatical errors that a native speaker wouldn’t make.
#3 Scare Tactics
Phishing campaigns typically use intense language and scare tactics to create a sense of urgency, beginning with the subject line of the email.
This is done to trick a recipient to respond quickly and without recognizing the warning signs.
In addition to using urgent language, phishing emails frequently use scare tactics in the hope that readers will click malicious links out of panic or confusion.
Such messaging is frequently framed around immediate updates or payments that must be made within a certain amount of time.
#4 Unfamiliar Email Addresses, Links, and Domain Names
To protect yourself from phishing attacks,look for distinctions in email addresses, links, and domain names.
For example, it’s worth double-checking that the originating email addresses match those in previous correspondence.
If there is a link embedded in the email, move the pointer over the link to see what shows up.
If the domain names do not match, do not click.
#5 Suspicious Attachments
Phishing scam attempts frequently include malicious downloadable files, often compressed.zip files, that can infect your computer in addition to malicious links.
If the recipient receives an email from an unknown sender with an attached file, or if the recipient did not request or expect to receive a file from the sender of the email, you should be very careful with the opening.
If the attached file has a file extension that is generally linked with malware downloads (.zip,.exe,.scr, etc.), recipients should flag the file to scan it before they decide to open it.
How to Prevent Phishing Attacks?
It is critical to carefully examine all potential phishing attacks.
To truly combat phishing tactics, businesses must become more proactive, both through employee training and the use of security software, to better detect suspicious network activity and prevent potentially crippling attacks.
Employee Training
Knowledge is the best defense against spear-phishing campaigns.
Hackers craft phishing scams to appear as persuading as possible, but they frequently include signs that expose the sham.
Requiring regular data security and social engineering training is an excellent preventative measure that will assist your organization in learning the signs of malicious emails.
Protect Your Information
If the website’s URL does not begin with “https,” or if there is no closed padlock icon next to the URL, do not enter sensitive information or download files from that site.
Sites that lack security certificates may not be designed for phishing attacks, but it is always better to be safe.
Raise Cybersecurity
To raise your cybersecurity and increase your chances of avoiding phishing attempts, you should install firewalls and have a data security platform.
Firewalls are an effective way to protect your computer from external attacks by acting as a barrier between your computer and the attacker.
When used in tandem, desktop, and network firewalls can improve your security and reduce the likelihood of a hacker infiltrating your environment.
By automatically alerting on unusual user behavior and unwanted changes to files, a data security platform relieves some of the pressure on the IT/Security team.
If an attacker gains access to your sensitive information, data security platforms can assist you in identifying the affected account so that you can take appropriate action to prevent further harm.
Please CONTACT US at Demakis Technologies to find out more about how we can raise your cybersecurity and protect your business data and digital assets.
