Four Hints that an Email Is Actually a Phishing Attack

While now may not be the most dangerous time to run a business, it is arguably a contender. Businesses are more reliant on digital technology than ever, meaning that these businesses also have to deal with more threats than ever. One such threat: the phishing scam.

Phishing Scams are a Clear and Present Danger

Let’s assume you’ve invested in your cybersecurity protections, creating a considerable defense for your business. Phishing is so effective because none of that particularly matters.

Those who run phishing scams and schemes have devised means to sneak their attacks through these defenses and personalize many of them to be disconcertingly convincing… especially to the average business user, whose mind is focused on other things.

This is precisely why training your team is so crucial. They need to be able to spot and respond appropriately to these attacks to stop them.

Signs that Help Identify a Potential Phishing Attack

These four signs are pretty reliable indicators of a potential phishing attack:

1. Who sent it? If you don’t recognize a particular message's sender— especially if it comes from outside your business—be careful handling it. Try to verify the sender’s identity through a separate means of communication.
2. Is it written urgently? If a message uses scare tactics or manufactured urgency to push you into performing some action, that’s a sign that not all is right. Confirming orders you don’t remember placing, claiming prizes for contests you didn’t enter, and other means of linking to an external website are another sign.
3. Does the message make suspicious requests? You should always be cautious about messages asking for sensitive information, like a Social Security number or credit card data. This is a hallmark of phishing scams.
4. Are there links, images, and/or attachments? Any message that includes an unexpected or out-of-context image, link, or attachment should not be interacted with before verifying the sender. These are often used to hide and distribute malware.

If a message appears to be a phishing attack, you should contact a trusted IT resource immediately, whether an internal IT department or an outsourced provider like Data Net.

Don’t Leave Your Business Vulnerable

The ideal outcome is that your business is so well protected that a phishing attack never darkens your door… and believe it or not, this is almost attainable with the help of today’s tools. 

Modern threat detection, spam blocking, and content filtering all contribute to this goal. Just as crucially, of course, is how well-prepared your team is through training. You need both to address the threat at hand properly.

Unfortunately, there isn’t a way to completely rid your business of phishing attacks, but if you can make them as ineffective as possible, your team is far less likely to fall for them.

Give us a call at (760) 466-1200 to get started.