It is difficult to perform a technical cyber-attack on a business today. There have been incredible advancements in security technology and getting past it requires an extensive technical skillset. That’s why most cyber criminals won’t try and compromise your IT, instead they’ll go after your people. Phishing attacks are a major threat to businesses of all sizes. If just one person at your business falls for a phishing attack you can experience data breaches, financial losses, and damage to your reputation. Here is how you can protect your people and your business from phishing.
What is Phishing?
Phishing is a type of cyber-attack that uses fraudulent emails, text messages, or website pop-ups to trick individuals into providing sensitive information, such as login credentials or financial data. An example of phishing is an email that appears to be from a trustworthy source (such as a bank or a well-known company), requesting personal information or login credentials. The email often includes a website link that looks legitimate but leads to a fake site where the entered information is collected by the attacker.
How Can a Business Protect Themselves from Phishing?
Security Awareness Training
One of the most effective ways to protect a business from phishing is through employee education and training. Employees should be trained to recognize phishing attempts and how to handle them. This includes understanding how to identify phishing emails and text messages, how to spot suspicious website pop-ups, and how to report suspicious activity to the appropriate person in the organization. Employee training has lowered the success rate of phishing attacks to 5%, proving that this method is an effective solution to help protect your business from phishing attacks.
Implement Technical Solutions
Another effective way to protect a business from phishing is to implement technical solutions that can detect and block phishing attempts. These solutions include email filtering, anti-phishing software, and firewalls. Some solutions can also provide real-time monitoring and threat intelligence, which can help to quickly detect and respond to phishing attacks.
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
Another way to protect against phishing is to use multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all online accounts. MFA requires users to provide two or more forms of authentication, such as a password and a fingerprint or a password and a one-time code sent to a phone in order to log in. This makes it much more difficult for attackers to gain access to sensitive information.
Have an Incident Response Plan
Time is everything when you get breached. In case someone falls for a phishing scam and gives their credentials away to a bad actor, you need an incident response plan already in-place. This plan should outline the steps that need to be taken to contain the breach, investigate the incident, and notify affected individuals or organizations. If you don’t have an established incident response plan, you will have a slow and lacking response, leading to more damage and downtime.
Protecting a business from phishing requires a multi-layered approach that includes employee education and training, technical solutions, multi-factor authentication, software and system updates, and incident response planning. By implementing these measures, businesses can reduce their risk of falling victim to phishing attacks and protect their information and assets.
Are You Smarter Than a Phisher?
Play this game to see if you can outsmart the scammers!
You should not be worried whether you’re secure. Partner with Aldridge and become confident that you’re prepared for whatever happens next. Take a look at our IT Security page to see how we can help.