How many emails do you think you send a day? Would it surprise you to know that on average a typical office worker sends and receives around 121 a day! Now that might sound like a lot but in the grand scheme of things it really isn’t, for example, 3 billion phishing emails are sent every day. 3 billion! They account for 1% of all email traffic.
Phishing emails are emails that are sent by a cyber-criminal. These emails are often disguised as emails from a trusted source such as a delivery company or your bank. The cyber-criminals aim is to persuade you to click on a link that installs malware on to your device or to fool you into logging in to a fake website to steal your log in details. These fake websites can look like websites you would normally trust. Research has shown that in 2021 PayPal was the most spoofed business – accounting for 37.8% of attacks. This is due to PayPal being one of the most widely used websites, as of writing this it currently has 392 million active accounts!
Phishing emails are incredibly common and there is a very high likelihood that you and your team will receive several of these emails a week. It is important to know what to look out for as at a glance a phishing email can look exactly like it has come from the real business. These emails will normally ask you to update your log in details or check any unauthorised activity.
It is imperative that you and your people know what to look out for as if a hacker gets into your business account the data breach can and will be devastating.
Some of the warning signs to look for are;
- Check what email address it has been sent from – does it look like the normal email address from the business or is it different? Even a typo in the email can be a giveaway.
- Check the content of the email, does it follow the normal standards of other legitimate emails from the business. Check for grammatical mistakes too.
- Trust your gut. You might feel a bit wary or not quite right. Do not ignore this feeling
If you are at all unsure – go to your browser and log in to your account from the legitimate website URL. Don’t ever click a link in an email unless you are 100% sure it is real.
How protected is your business? Do your staff know how to spot a scam email? If you would like any help in reviewing your security and cyber-crime awareness training feel free to contact us!
Published with permission from Your Tech Updates.