In a world where technology and the internet are evolving at an exponential rate, the techniques which hackers use to gain access to your company’s confidential data also continue to adapt to the latest security software. To counter this, you can invest in the latest secured wireless broadband solutions or install the newest anti-malware to protect your network against aggressive attacks. However, an important form of defense is making sure that your team is familiar with methods that target and trick the individual. One such thing still constantly being used today is phishing, which, according to Westfair Communications, still succeeds despite being so simple.
Understanding the Method
To understand why anti-virus programs are not always effective against phishing, you must first gain a better understanding of what it is. Simply put, it is similar to an act or con that tricks unsuspecting individuals into revealing important data to the attacker. One of the earliest forms were those made through the phone. In this scenario, a caller posing as a representative of an individual’s bank, for example, would report a fairly convincing case and would then ask “standard” security questions to verify the victim’s identity. This method, while simple, is already enough for the attacker to gain the person’s private information.
Evolving Techniques
Now with the internet paving way to emails as another standard form of communication, it has become even simpler. They now only have to create an email that looks official, once again delivering a seemingly legitimate report. These correspondences ask the user to log in to their accounts to resolve it. There are times, however, where these no longer stop at just stealing information. Recent developments, according to Choice, have emails that include a malicious program that, if activated, locks the user out of their computer, and requires monetary ransom to reverse it.
Simple Vigilance Against Attacks
With businesses all adopting the advantages of online platforms, it is imperative that you make sure that your team is aware of the basics of this cyber attack. As mentioned above, hackers have used phishing for a long time because it works well. However, that also means that it is possible to prepare your team to, at the very least, know when to flag any suspicious form of communication, or take preventative actions against it. In fact, you might be surprised at how simple it could be.
One way is to be wary of links that come from “official” emails. This is most likely a ploy that will record any entered data. As part of security and privacy protocols, legitimate communications will never provide a link that redirects you to a login page, instead requiring you to head to the website yourself. This is similar to phone calls as well, where you should not give your private information if it is asked in a call you did not initiate. If you are being required to give confidential data, hang up and call the company using their official phone lines.
The simplicity of phishing is highly dependent on the susceptibility of the target. Therefore, high awareness and basic vigilance is already an effective step against this method, and another level of security in protecting your important data.