Have you heard of phishing?
Cyber crime is big business, and phishing attacks are one of the baddies favourite routes into an organisation. You’ve probably heard of them, but you might not be 100% clear on exactly what they are and how they work.
Here’s a simple definition:
- A phishing scam happens when a cyber criminal pretends to be someone else to gain information.
- The aim is to make the victim feel a sense of fear, curiosity or urgency so they quickly open a dodgy attachment, or send important details like bank/credit card details, user names or passwords.
Every day, scammers are coming up with more inventive and sneaky ways to lure people into sharing sensitive business information.
They often send phishing emails late in the working day, when people are tired and just want to get their work done, so they can go home.
They’re amazingly effective too… of the 8,000 plus phishing emails sent every day, it’s estimated that around half of them work.
Sure, you’d have to be pretty naive to hand over your bank account details to a stranger on the internet, but today’s phishing scams are far more convincing and aren’t just about money.
Your data can be just as valuable to a cyber-criminal, and they’ll lose no sleep over the repercussions when a well-meaning staff member accidentally gives them access to all of the company’s data.
You can avoid phishing scams by making sure you – and your team – are prepared for an attack and know what to look out for.
We’ve written a new guide to tell you everything you need to know.
