Prevent Phishing Attacks: Proven Strategies to Stay One Step Ahead

While there are technological tools that can help protect against phishing attacks, the best defense is a cyber security aware workforce.  Here are some things to teach your team to look out for.

Email Phishing:

• Sender name and email – are you expecting the email? Is the email address correct?  Is it from a known or trusted domain? Ensure it is not from a fake domain designed to appear legitimate.  For example, if it is supposed to be from “person@BankOfAmerica.com”, it will try to fool you by replacing the “O” with “0” (zero)…”person@Bank0fAmerica.com”. 
• Attachments – Never open unknown or compressed attachments
• Address to – Is the email impersonal, or does it sound like it’s someone who doesn’t know you?
• Grammar – While we all make mistakes, a lot of grammatical errors or strange misspellings are a clue that something is not right
• Threats or scare tactics – Does the sender make urgent requests or threats that are meant to make you react quickly?
• Links – Never open a link by simply clicking on it.  Hover over it to be sure it links to the correct page.  To be extra safe, type in the destination link yourself.

At Commonwealth Sentinel, we offer technical solutions like a Security Operations Center (SOC) and training packages to help you prevent falling victim to cyber crime. Our Critical Response Team can help you get your systems back up and running if the worst happens. What’s your first step? Schedule a free consultation today or contact us at (502) 320-9885 for more information.