According to a recent FBI study, the weak link in security is us! (People) Specifically, people who click on things they should not or give out information they should not. Cyber Criminals have put a high emphasis on targeting the human element of businesses. The easy way to bypass technology security measures is to trick someone into letting you in! Once the hackers have valid credentials into a network, they will have the same access rights as the person they hacked and give themselves a platform to try and escalate those privileges even further.
Social engineering and phishing scams have evolved greatly in the last few years. Gone are the days when phishing emails were poorly spelled emails from a supposed Nigerian Prince looking to get your bank account information so he can deposit a million dollars in it. Today’s scams are much more difficult to detect and often specifically arranged to try and fool employees of your company. One technique is called email spoofing, where the hacker pretends to be an influential person in your organization. This is an incredibly easy hack to pull off as most businesses have information about their management teams on their web site. In addition to these phishing emails becoming more sophisticated and more common (one recent study by a prominent anti-phishing platform estimates 91% of data breaches come from phishing attacks), the damage done by hackers is also on the rise. Some strains of ransomware will infect your Master Boot Record and essentially turn your computer into a brick if the ransom is not paid. In cases like this, hackers are not after your information, they are purely going after your money. No ulterior motive in play here.
**Remember** : When your business get hacked it doesn’t just affect your business. Once a hackers compromises your email, as an example, they now can see who you communicate with and they will start attacking your customers, your vendors and your partners. A hack at your place of business can cost you business relationships!
Employee awareness is a key component to a comprehensive security plan. What can be done to combat the kinds of sophisticated phishing attacks that are on the rise? Colden Company has a service that will generate phishing emails (without the dangerous results if users click on them) so that you can identify who needs more training and awareness of these types of scams. Every business has them. You could send an email with skull and crossbones, with a note that says “Do Not Click” and someone in your organization will click it. After-all, somebody was falling for the Nigerian Prince scams or they would not have continued for so long. These are the people that put your business at risk! These are the people that specifically need targeted training. Our phishing tests will do just that by sending out sample emails and identifying who is clicking and providing training and feedback immediately.
Today’s cyber world calls for increased security and increased employee awareness. To find out who your “clickers” are, call us at 888-600-4560, email us, or visit us on Facebook or Twitter.