In the tech industry today, even the most reliable tools can be used against you. Five Nines has recently discovered phishing attempts that are in the form of an Office 365 verification email. Wouldn’t you be enticed to click on the links in this email?
Unfortunately, just because it is Office 365, and just because many Office 365 tools are hosted online, does not mean it is any safer. When it comes to cybercrime, you must have a healthy paranoia about everything. Anything is open game.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
A lot of these phishing attempts happen through email, mobile messages, or unprotected webpages. Here are a few quick tips we recommend:
- Double-check the sender’s email address, is it from a suspicious domain? Are there any tiny grammatical errors? (EX. micorsoft-support.com)
- Why is the sender asking you to click on a link? Is it to avoid negative consequences or to gain something of value? Think twice about whether it’s a link you should be clicking on.
- Did you receive the email at an unusual time that is not during business hours?
- Are there misspellings in hyperlinks?
- Does the attachment in the email relate to the content of the message?
We have put together a complete flier full of even more red flags to look for when it comes to phishing attempts. Download the flier, read it over, and share it with your team. P.S. it’s free.
Keep in mind, phishing attempts may be in the form of reputable organizations and programs, such as Microsoft and their Office 365 software. For consistent FBI updates on current cybercrime schemes, click here.
WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT
There are a couple of important components that must be put into place to keep your organization protected from clever cybercrime tactics. First, the antivirus you use is very crucial in protecting your business.
Antivirus aside, one of the more impactful solutions to prepare for potential cybercrime attempts like the one above is user training and awareness implementation. Five Nines believes giving users the confidence to navigate their devices with the knowledge to identify real threats plays a huge role in fighting against cybercrime. It only takes one wrong click to cause a breach in your IT environment.
Situational training is very helpful, as it provides real scenarios of actual phishing attempts and puts your employees to the test to see if they can identify these attempts themselves. Giving your teams the right tools they need to not only be efficient and productive, but also aware and alert will give your IT environment a significant advantage.
AN ONGOING PHENOMENON
Cyber crime and phishing attempts will not be going away anytime soon, in fact this phenomenon is predicted to get worse each year. It’s a threat everyone needs to be aware of and prepared for.
According to Cybersecurity Ventures, cybercrime is currently the greatest threat to every company in the world. By 2021, cybercrime is predicted to cost the world up to $6 trillion on an annual basis. These costs derive from destruction of data to productivity loss to the restoration of hacked data systems.
The statistics are scary and intimidating, but you don’t have to fight cybercrime alone. Avoid having someone on your team click on something like the email above by implementing user training within your organization.
Five Nines offers user awareness training to make sure all teams are prepared for the possibilities of phishing attacks and other cybercrime initiatives. If this is of interest to you, click the button below and we will start the conversation about how to train your team.
Cybercrime is growing, but so are protective measures. Take action and prioritize cybercrime prevention to avoid being part of the statistics.
