Continuing our series of posts aligned to Cyber Awareness month, this week we are highlighting an increasingly common threat – Phishing Scams.
Phishing is a cyber attack that uses disguised email as a weapon. The goal is to trick the email recipient into believing that the message is something they want or need — a request from their bank, a delivery update from a courier, or a note from someone in their company — and to click a link or download an attachment.
What really distinguishes phishing is the form the message takes: the attackers masquerade as a trusted entity of some kind, often a real or plausibly real person, or a company the victim might do business with. And it’s one of the most widespread and pernicious forms of cyber attack, with phishing messages and techniques becoming increasingly sophisticated.
One of the reasons that Phishing is becoming a more common form of attack is that it is targeted at individuals and is very difficult for common technology based security measures to manage.
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Staff / user awareness and training is absolutely critical. Use the ’10 Things to Watch’ checklist above to make sure your team are aware of the dangers and know how to minimise the chances of being caught out.
Other useful resources: