TECH CORNER
The S. E. C. U. R. E. Method To Stop Phishing E-mails
BY RUSSELL QUINN
Phishing attacks are the most common cybercrime attack for one reason … they work. Every day, over 3.4 billion spam e-mails reach unsuspecting users’ inboxes. Phishing e-mails have held the top spot as the most frequent form of attack for years because they’ re easy to implement, easy to scale and continue to fool people. AI tools like ChatGPT are now making it even easier for cybercriminals to create e-mails that look and sound like they’ re coming from humans instead of bots and scammers. If you’ re not careful, the effects of phishing scams can be detrimental.
Since it’ s Cybersecurity Awareness Month and phishing e-mails are one of the top causes of attacks, we created this simple guide to help you and your team successfully identify phishing e-mails and understand why it’ s so important to do so.
What Can Happen? Here Are 4 Significant Dangers Associated With Phishing Attacks:
1. DATA BREACHES
Phishing attacks can expose your organization’ s sensitive information to cybercriminals. Once your data is exposed, hackers can sell it on the dark web or hold it for ransom, demanding thousands, millions or even more for its return – and they likely won’ t return it anyway. This can result in financial and legal repercussions, damage to your reputation and loss of customer trust.
2. FINANCIAL LOSS
Cybercriminals often use phishing e-mails to steal money directly from businesses. Whether it’ s through fraudulent invoices or unauthorized transactions, falling victim to phishing can have a direct impact on your bottom line.
3. MALWARE INFECTIONS
Phishing e-mails can contain malicious attachments or links that, when clicked, can infect your systems with malware. This can disrupt your operations, lead to data loss and require costly remediation efforts.
4. COMPROMISED ACCOUNTS
When employees fall for phishing scams, their accounts can be compromised. Attackers can then use these accounts to launch further attacks or gain unauthorized access to sensitive company data.
And the list goes on. However, there are actions you can take to prevent becoming the next victim of a phishing attack.
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