What is Phishing and what can you do to prevent it?

Phishing is a type of online scam where criminals send an email that appears to be from a legitimate company and ask you to provide sensitive information. A Phishing email will typically direct the user to visit a website where they are asked to update personal information, such as a password, credit card, social security, or bank account numbers, that the legitimate organization already has

How to recognise a phishing email?

•Unofficial "From" address. Check for addresses which are similar but not exactly the same as the official address

•Urgent action required. Fraudsters will often put a sense of urgency into emails

•Link to a fake web site via instant message, often by someone who you do not know

•Check the Web address. If you are unsure about a website, the best is not to sign in

•Generic greeting. Fraudsters often send thousands of phishing emails at one time. They may have your email address, but they seldom have your name. Be skeptical of an email sent with a generic greeting such as "Dear Customer" or "Dear Member".

Also check out for the following additional indicators that might suggest an email is not trustworthy:

•Spelling errors, poor grammar, or inferior graphics.

•Requests for personal information such as your password, Social Security number, or bank account or credit card number. Legitimate companies will never ask you to verify or provide confidential information in an unsolicited email.

•Attachments (which might contain viruses or keystroke loggers, which record what you type).

Did you know that 91% of corporate successful data breaches started with a spear phishing attack?

You can find out what percentage of your employees are Phish-prone with a free phishing security test. Plus, see how you stack up against your peers with the new phishing Industry Benchmarks.

IT pros have realized that simulated phishing tests are urgently needed as an additional security layer. Today, phishing your own users is just as important as having antivirus and a firewall. It is a fun and an effective cybersecurity best practice to patch your last line of defense: USERS

Why? If you don't do it yourself, the bad guys will.

Here's how it works:

•Immediately start your test for up to 100 users (no need to talk to anyone)

•Customize the phishing test template based on your environment

•Choose the landing page your users see after they click

•Show users which red flags they missed, or a 404 page

•Get a PDF emailed to you in 24 hours with your Phish-prone % and charts to share with management

•Train these users that clicked into the phishing links

For more information, call The Techforce on 0044 (0) 333 210 6181