According to a report from Trend Micro, more than 85% of the 66.4 billion emails sent to them contained malware. Most attackers generally use phishing for spreading their malware. Your employees are vulnerable to attacks like phishing and social engineering attacks. Thus, the best way to protect your business is by teaching your employees about these simple attacks. Make sure that they know about phishing emails. This will help them in determining if a mail is real or fake.

You should also implement the best security tools for stopping phishing attacks. It is a good idea to send emails to your employees and ask them if it is legit mail. This will help you in creating a training plan for your employees. In this article, we are going to share some tips that will help you in training your employees about phishing attacks.

Explain them about phishing attack

Phishing is a type of attack where attackers will pose as an authority for gaining access to personal information or credentials. They will impersonate as a legit brand and mail to your employees. For example, they might act as Microsoft and send a login form to your employees. Your employees will think that it is sent by Microsoft and they will log in to a fake Office 365 site. Thus, attackers will get access to your employee’s credentials. It is not easy for normal users to distinguish between fake and real Microsoft mail.

Email addresses can be fake or spoofed

Your users should never trust the mail address. There are many methods to spoof email addresses. Hackers already know how to trick simple users. They will send an email that will look legit. Attackers will generally use display name spoofing. In this, they will use a legit company in the email address. However, the email will be actually sent from a random email address. It is the most effective method of spoofing available. If your employees are using their mobile devices, then the email address will be automatically hidden from them. Thus, attackers are betting on the fact that your employees won’t expand the name to check the email address. Make sure that your employees are always checking the email address and verifying them. They should ensure that the domain name mentioned in the email address is legit.

Emails will contain threatening or enticing language

Attackers will sometimes promise things like free money to the respondents. However, most of the time they will use threatening language like “your bank account will be suspended”. This will evoke a sense of curiosity or panic. Thus, your employees will respond to these emails quickly. They will try to protect themselves from financial loss.

Attackers will generally use an aggressive tone for scaring people. Thus, your employees might end up giving some important or confidential information.

Sometimes attackers can also use spear-phishing attacks. They will act like your colleagues. Thus, they will write a personalized email. For example, they can act like a CEO and ask for something. Most employees will think that the email is from a top executive and they will respond to it. Thus, it is very important to ensure that your employees can differentiate between legit and phishing emails.

Never click on attachments

Most phishing emails will contain malicious attachments. These malicious attachments will contain malware and viruses. Malware and ransomware can damage and corrupt files that are stored on your computer. They can also steal your passwords. Sometimes they will use keyloggers for spying on your computer. Thus, make sure that your employees are never opening any email attachments. If you are confused about some email attachment, then you should send it to your security team.

Look for the email logo and signature

You should always check for the email signature. This will help you in checking the details of the company. If the contact detail of the company is missing, then it is mostly a phishing email. Legit businesses will always include their contact details in the email.

Links can be malicious

Most phishing emails will include links. These links will be deceptive in nature. The text will say something like “Check your bank account” and it will take you directly to the phishing page. Your employees should check the links before clicking on them. They can directly hover on the links. This will ensure that they can directly check the link’s real destination. If you think that the website URL is fake, then it is a phishing attack.

Make sure that the URL is correct. It is important to check for alternative domains rather than .org or .com. Attackers will also use URL shorteners like bit.ly for bypassing the email filters. Thus, your employees should be cautious about shortened URLs.

Attackers can use real logos and brand images

There is no guarantee that trademarks and brand logos used in email is real. All the logos and brand images are available on the internet. Thus, anyone can download them. Even sometimes the antivirus badges in the email can be fake. They will trick your employees into thinking that it is a real email. If you are using email filters, then they can easily check for phishing URLs. But, it is difficult to check for a counterfeit image. You need to use advanced Machine learning tools for identifying counterfeit images.

Conclusion

It is very difficult to deal with the repercussions of these attacks. Sometimes one careless click can compromise your entire database and network. Thus, you should ensure that your employees are working to protect the company. You should have a system in a place that will help your employees in reporting attacks. If your employees are thinking that some email is fake, then they should contact your IT team. You can provide semiannual cybersecurity training for your employees. Experienced MSPs like Bleuwire can help you in training your employees. They will also help you in creating an effective security strategy. If you need more information regarding IT security services, then you can contact Bleuwire.

Contact us today to learn about Bleuwire™ services and solutions in how we can help your business.