How to Prevent Phishing
Spear phishing attacks aren’t a new thing; they’ve been around for a while. However, their numbers are rapidly increasing. This isn’t surprising, considering trade secrets are a lucrative source of income if cybercriminals can get their hands on them.
To access this precious data, scammers are continuously changing their strategies to trick their victims better. When they use such ingenuity, it can be difficult to block their attacks.
So how can you keep your organization safe from spear phishing attacks? And not just from one attempt, but multiple ones?
In this article, we’ve outlined some essential ways on how to prevent phishing and some spear phishing advice. By adopting these methods, you can fight against even the sneakiest attacks.
Double check any links or attachments
Cybercriminals who phish count on subterfuge to access your sensitive information. They’re highly successful with this approach because they craft their emails to be very convincing. In those emails are malicious links and attachments which install malware on your computer.
Many cybersecurity professionals can’t even tell the difference between spear phishing emails and regular emails at times. If they can’t even discern fake and real emails, your workforce probably doesn’t stand a chance of doing so either.
So instead of worrying about that detail, you should use spear phishing best practices as a precaution with every email. Even if you’re expecting an attachment or link from someone, you should treat it as potentially malicious.
Put your mouse cursor over them and see what the destination link name is. If it has some unrecognizable URL, don’t click it, especially if it’s from an unknown sender. If the email’s from a colleague or client, give them a call to make sure it was actually sent bythem.
Cybercriminals can spoof email addresses and display names; an email might look like it’s from “Jim” from “accounting@business.com,” but is actually a spoofed email from “Jinn” from “accountlng@business.com.”
MORE : Phishing Education
Install robust antivirus software
At its most basic levels, your cyber defenses should include an antivirus program. Not using one not only exposes your organization to viruses, but also to phishing attacks. Do your research on what’s the best commercial antivirus software and make sure every employee has it installed on their devices, this way they can avoid being phishing victims.
Your workplace has to think beyond installation as well. Cybercriminals are constantly finding vulnerabilities with software and using those to infiltrate networks. By driving home the importance of always keeping your antivirus program up-to-date, you can help your business plug up holes that scammers take advantage of.
Add an anti-phishing toolbar to your browser
An anti-phishing toolbar is a great addition to your cybersecurity. There are many free versions you can add to your browser. Once it’s installed, it’ll block phishing site attacks in real-time, no matter who’s using the computers.
Since some toolbars themselves can be phishing attempts, make sure you screen any anti-phishing toolbars before you install them.
Get anti-phishing software for the office
The most important layer to your digital defenses is spear phishing prevention. Antivirus programs can only detect simple phishing attacks, so you need something smarter and stronger for more sophisticated attacks.
Since anti-phishing software is designed with the specific purpose of sniffing out phishing attacks, it’ll block out anything that your antivirus doesn’t. As a result, you’ll have more comprehensive coverage against scammers.
Anti-phishing software can also benefit you in these following ways:
- Check incoming emails for malicious content
- Block emails found with malicious content from being delivered
- Quarantine potential false positives with the option for senders to release emails to you
- Identify any spoofing with display or domain names
- Protect against zero-day vulnerabilities
- Check the URLs you’re clicking on in real-time
- Give you the flexibility to customize settings for your business
Block incoming spear phishing attacks
With phishing awareness training, you can save your organization from catastrophe. Although you can recover from phishing attacks, it’s better for them not to happen in the first place.
Have your employees install antivirus software, plus anti-phishing toolbars and best phishing protection software. Make sure they’re kept up-to-date as well. All these strategies in addition to good workplace vigilance can work together to reduce the chance of cybercriminals breaching your defenses.
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