6 ways to protect employees from phishing

The term Phishing seems to be buzzing around in every field and with technological enhancement the need for modern solutions has become a must but with attacks and challenges rising everyday, having an all-rounder solution is no longer an option rather has become a must-have essential. One such problem is Phishing attack. It has been and continues to be the face of online scams and campaigns. It remains a constant threat to the organization and brands of nearly every field and interest.

What is phishing?

Phishing to date remains a popular method of stealing credentials, committing fraud, and distributing malware. Phishing may look like a juvenile form of cybercrime on the surface but surfaces are often deceptive rather it is a campaign by organized crime groups that is well-orchestrated, multi-faceted, and sustained attacks.

Common phishing scams

• Tech support phishing scams
• Clone phishing scams
• Spear phishing scams
• Whale phishing scams

Ways to prevent your employees from phishing attacks.

As we all know, the best defence comes from a good offence. So, educating your employees becomes an important part as it is extremely helpful in effectively thwarting phishing attempts and employees can be prepared well on how to better shield the organization and respond to phishing threats. Let the concerned authority know if you’re unsure about the content of a suspicious email, they should contact your IT department, Help Desk or designated response team before responding.

Training new users on company security measures as soon as they join should be essential. Security policies and procedures are not something permanent because the internet is a dynamic space and it changes every single second and hence, you can never make a policy and use it for years. Regularly updating and informing all employees of changes in the internet is a must to be safe 24*7*365.

1. Annual company-wide cybersecurity training for each employee.

A company is like a family and just as in every household there are different individuals with different specialities. The main focus is those security-savvy employees that are our primary defence against phishing attacks. Creating an annual company-wide security training goes a long way in protecting your company’s data. Implement this training into onboarding procedure with regularly scheduled refresher courses to follow.

2. Educate each employee on identifying email.

With knowledge comes power and that’s the only way one can defend its company as the most crucial element of protecting employees from attacks is to teach them how to identify phishing emails quickly. As hackers try their best to impersonate real companies by using their logo and adding minute details to make the emails look legitimate, surely red flags can be difficult to spot but not impossible you just need to be sure what you’re looking for.

Click to know more in detail – https://www.comparethecloud.net/articles/security/7-tips-to-prevent-a-successful-phishing-attack-on-your-remote-team/

3. Be on alert for threats or urgent deadlines.

When the mixture of spoofing is combined with threats or deadlines, the chances of falling for a scam are even more likely. Creating a sense of danger or urgency (like the threat of a fine or account closure) often misleads the employees to make rash decisions. If you’re unsure, contact the concerned authority in question separately.

4. Give real-life examples of data breaches caused by phishing.

In order to understand the graveness of the situation, one has to understand the problem in-depth. Hence, showing real-life examples come in handy to help employees understand what you’re up against, it isn’t that your employees don’t care about the company’s security; however, it is better to show them what can actually be effects of phishing, employees barely get an idea why training is no more a formality as it used to be but a necessity to shield the organization from all possible threats.

5. Installation of only trusted antivirus software must be ensured.

Mistakes are not strange they can happen. Even excellent security training can have gaps and even after best training to employees sometimes, employees could accidentally fall for such spam emails. If that happens, you’ll want robust antivirus software installed on your devices. Always ensure that your software is updated and running at its best as antivirus isn’t a set-it-and-forget-it solution, it needs to be updated frequently.

6. Ensure involvement of executives in each security initiative.

With the rise of pandemic, there is a gap that has been happening in security programs with higher-level management. Though those are the teams that arrange for security training to take place, security is not a one man’s land everyone across verticals should be a part of security training as executives without security training can be extreme liabilities to your company. Hackers target higher-level employees specifically as they pose the highest level of access to confidential data that attackers want to fetch.

Keep yourself engrossed with similar blogs – https://www.tikaj.com/blog/tips-to-be-safe-from-phishing-attacks/