We live in a fully digital world, where daily communication and business correspondence is done over email. While a multitude of benefits has come from this dependence on digital communication like increased productivity and efficiency, one threat persists, and it’s phishing attacks.
Phishing cybercrimes have grown exponentially over the past decade and they are not slowing down. From disguising oneself as someone trustworthy in an email in order to steal one’s sensitive data like passwords and credit card information, to gaining access to an entire organization’s network, these attacks have the potential to target thousands of people at once.
So, how do we protect ourselves and our business? That’s where an anti-phishing software solution comes in. Designed with the sophisticated tactics of phishers in mind, anti-phishing solutions are increasingly becoming a priority for businesses across sectors who want to protect the valuable information of their organization and employees.
8 Preventative Measures and Best Practices
Our anti-phishing software solution is highly effective in protecting your business from phishing attacks, but there should also be a set of best practices to follow so you can maximize its effectiveness. Here are a few tips that you can implement in order to achieve this.
1. Staying Updated With The Latest Phishing Techniques
Cybercriminals are always trying to find more efficient ways to attack their victims. As technology advances in cybersecurity, criminals will continually update their phishing techniques. Understanding how to spot a phishing scam and staying up to date with the latest trends can help in preventing future attacks.
2. Think Twice Before You Click
This may sound like the most obvious thing to do, but don’t underestimate the power of thinking twice before you click. Phishing emails can contain links that claim to come from a legitimate enterprise and lead to a website made to collect your information. Never enter personal information on a website that uses a false sense of urgency or unsecured checkouts. Links and websites will also try to resemble the actual brand very closely, so pay attention to the URL structure and the flow of the webpage. If something feels off or the branding seems different, then you should exit the page immediately and not take any chances.
3. Verify a Website’s Security
These days, search engines favor websites that have an SSL certificate to show visitors that they are utilizing encryption. Google will actually warn you if a website isn’t encrypted before proceeding. The URL should start with HTTPS and the lock symbol should be seen to the left of it. As we mentioned before, phishing techniques change all the time and it’s not that hard to get an SSL certificate in general. At a minimum, a website should have this and if it doesn’t, that’s a clear red flag.
4. Keep Your Web Browser up to Date
Have you ever had to close an app multiple times because it doesn’t seem to work? Later finding out that it simply needed to be updated to work flawlessly again. The same can be considered for your web browser. Every software or application will have to undergo regular updates to make sure that security isn’t compromised and cybercriminals will try their best to exploit these loopholes. It’s best to turn on notifications when updates are available for your most-used applications.
5. Use a Firewall
A firewall adds another layer of security and acts as a buffer between the user, computer, and the intruder. A personal firewall can analyze and filter traffic for a single computer, while a network firewall can do so for an entire network, such as a business’s local area network (LAN).
6. Educate Employees About Current Phishing Threats
Employee education and training is a proactive approach that companies can take to defend against sophisticated attacks effectively. With proper education and training, a company’s workforce can serve as the first and last line of defense against phishing scams.
7. Develop Corporate Email Policies
Email policies are policies that are set by the company. These types of policies help safeguard the company from falling victim to a phishing attack. For example, discouraging emails to be sent in HTML format, not allowing attachments and hyperlinks, never asking for personal information, and always using the recipient’s full name. Having rules and guidelines to follow establishes accountability but also makes it easier to spot a phishing attempt when policies are broken.
8. Encourage Password Security Best Practices
Phishing attacks usually aim to steal passwords to take over accounts and gain access to systems. Creating strong and unique passwords, enabling two-factor authentication, and using SMS tokens to verify identity can make it harder for cybercriminals to access accounts. As attacks are becoming more sophisticated, companies are beefing up their security measures with biometric authentication.
Now that you’ve learned 8 important preventative measures to take, staying vigilant may sound like a daunting task. It’s always a wise idea to add another layer of security that works for you around the clock, like an anti-phishing solution.
Frequently Asked Questions About Anti-Phishing Solutions
You may have some questions about what an anti-phishing solution actually is and how it can protect your business. Here are answers to some of the most frequently asked questions we get.
What is An Anti-Phishing Solution?
An anti-phishing solution is a type of software designed to identify and automatically remediate different types of phishing tactics and malicious activity in order to safeguard sensitive data.
How Does An Anti-Phishing Solution Work and Can Phishing Be Prevented?
An anti-phishing solution works by utilizing AI-capabilities to scan emails, attachments, and URLs for fraud and automatically remediating the threat from every affected inbox. They are designed to pick up on language that suggests malicious activity, impersonation, or fraud, and prevent users from falling victim to scams.
How Can You Implement Anti-Phishing Quickly?
The fastest way to implement an anti-phishing solution is by using cloud-based services that require no hardware or software installation. Using SaaS solutions that can be implemented within minutes and updates are regularly checked and installed. This ensures that there are no vulnerabilities due to outdated security patches.
Why Are Phishing Attacks So Dangerous?
Phishing is one of the most dangerous threats to you or an organization can have because this kind of attack typically camouflages itself as being a reputable person or company. Once an account is compromised it can spread quickly to others because at least 66% of people reuse the same password or use a close variant.
What Types of Phishing Does A Software Solution Protect Against?
A phishing software solution can protect users from a number of phishing types and tactics. At Cyren, our phishing solution protects Microsoft 365 users from spear phishing, spoofed messages like business email compromise, CEO fraud, and credential (account takeover) threats.
How Long Does it Take to Implement Anti-Phishing Software?
Implementing an anti-phishing software solution is a simple onboarding process if cloud-based integrations are used. The team at Cyren is happy to assist in implementing anti-phishing software to your company’s Office 365 environment, a process that only takes a few minutes and clicks of a mouse.
What is the Best Anti-Phishing Solution?
Cyren’s anti-phishing software solutions were designed with today’s cybercrime concerns in mind. It utilizes advanced anti-phishing technology to pick up and contain the most complex phishing tactics happening in recent years, with our solutions protecting up to 1.3 billion users against emerging threats.
Final Thoughts
Phishing activity is not going away any time soon and as our world continues to become increasingly digitized, businesses large and small need to have an anti-phishing strategy in place in order to protect their company and employees from fraud.
Ready to learn more about how an anti-phishing solution can protect your business? Get a demo with the Cyren team today.