Protective Strategies against Phishing Attacks

Phishing attacks are some of the most common types of malware attack in today’s IT world. Phishing attacks can come in many forms, including email, phone, social media, or text message. With many employees spending a majority of their time every day sending and responding to emails, it is possible for them to miss the signs of a phishing email. Infection of a sensitive system could lead to financial and reputational problems with your organization. This article aims to provide strategies for you to protect yourself against phishing cyberattacks.

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What is a Phishing Attack?­

A phishing attack is a type of malware attack that attempts to trick a victim into clicking a malicious link or downloading a malicious file.
Often, the attacker would disguise themselves as a legitimate person or organization such as a bank or client. The goal of this would be to trick victims into providing sensitive information such as account credentials, passwords, or credit card details.

What are the consequences of a Phishing attack?

There are many consequences to falling victim to a phishing attack. For instance, a malicious attacker may install malware onto a system through a malicious file. This in turn can lead to system instability and failure, creating productivity issues for your organization. If the computer is connected to your organization’s network, the risk of transmission through to other machines also exists.

Second, you organization may face reputational damage upon becoming the victim of a phishing attack. If clients discover that you were affected by such an attack, this may call the reliability of their data privacy into question.

Strategies to protect your organization

Familiarizing your employees on the signs of an attack is the most effective way of protecting your organization. If the initial malware infection or data leak can be avoided, disasters can be eliminated all together. Some common signs of a phishing email include:

⦁ Grammar or spelling errors in the subject and content of the email.
⦁ Sender’ email address does not contain the proper domain from the organization they are emailing from
⦁ Generic and untargeted greeting message
⦁ Stressing that information needs to be provided to them with urgency
⦁ Unsolicited attachments

Keep Software Up-to-date

Up-to-date software is a major line of defense against cybersecurity attacks. Should a malicious link or file be downloaded, the security of your system relies on the ability of your software to prevent the malicious program from editing files or stealing information. Keeping your software such at antivirus and operating systems should be of top priority in this regard.

Keep Cybersecurity Infrastructure Updated

Your current network infrastructure could contain vulnerabilities that you are not currently aware of. This potential danger grows as equipment ages and becomes obsolete. It is important to conduct regular checks and audits on the health of your current infrastructure to ensure that its design and maintenance are kept up-to-date to handle the newest cyberthreats.

Outline Clear Reporting Policies

If an employee encounters a fraudulent email during their day, they may simply ignore or delete the email. However, reporting it to your organization’s IT team has several distinct advantages. First, the team can analyze and confirm whether it is a legitimate threat. Then if it is identified as such, they can quarantine the file and block the sender’s address preventing further attempts. Finally, they can notify the remainder of your team, warning them of the known threat and what to look for.

Do not share information that may help scammers

Phishing attacks rely on using information to trick victims into believing they are from a legitimate source. Therefore, it is important not to share information about your business and staff, which may provide the tools that scammers need to craft a targeted phishing campaign.

Don’t fall victim to phishing attacks. GIGE Corporation helps organizations around Canada protect themselves against cybercrime. Call us at +1 888 366 4443 or email info@gige.ca to get started today.