The S.E.C.U.R.E. Method: Your Guide to Identifying and Preventing Phishing Emails

by | Oct 7, 2024

In the digital age, phishing remains the most prevalent form of cybercrime, and for good reason – it’s effective. With a staggering 3.4 billion spam emails flooding inboxes daily, phishing continues to be the go-to method for cybercriminals. The rise of AI tools like ChatGPT has further enhanced their ability to craft convincing, human-like emails, making detection increasingly challenging.

As we observe Cybersecurity Awareness Month, it’s crucial to understand the severe consequences of falling victim to these scams:

1. Data Breaches

Phishing attacks can expose your sensitive information, and hackers can sell it on the dark web or hold it for ransom, demanding thousands or millions for its return – and they likely won’t return it anyway. This can result in financial and legal repercussions, damage to your reputation and loss of customer trust.

2. Financial Loss

Cybercriminals often use phishing e-mails to steal money directly from businesses. Whether it’s through fraudulent invoices or unauthorized transactions, falling victim to phishing can have a direct impact on your bottom line.

3. Malware Infections

Phishing e-mails can contain malicious attachments or links that, when clicked, can infect your systems with malware. This can disrupt your operations, lead to data loss and require costly remediation efforts.

4. Compromised Accounts

When employees fall for phishing scams, their accounts can be compromised. Attackers can then use these accounts to launch further attacks or gain unauthorized access to sensitive company data.

And the list goes on… but there are actions you can take to prevent becoming the next victim of a phishing attack.

The S.E.C.U.R.E. Method

S – Start With The Subject Line: Is it odd? (e.g. “FWD: FWD: FWD: review immediately”)

E – Examine The E-mail Address: Do you recognize the person? Is the e-mail address unusual? (e.g. spelled differently)

C – Consider The Greeting: Is the salutation unusual or generic? (e.g. “Hello Ma’am!”)

U – Unpack The Message: Is there extreme urgency to get you to click a link or download an attachment or act on a too-good-to-be-true offer?

R – Review For Errors: Are there grammatical mistakes or odd misspellings?

E – Evaluate Links And Attachments: Hover over links before you click them to check the address, and do not open attachments from anyone you don’t know or weren’t expecting to receive mail from.

It’s also important to have a cybersecurity expert monitor your network and eliminate e-mail spam before your employees can make a mistake. Make sure you’re taking proper precautions to protect your network. These phishing attacks work and happen all the time. We don’t want YOU to be the next victim.

If you need help training your team on cybersecurity best practices, or just want a second set of eyes to examine what you currently have in place and assess if there are any vulnerabilities, we are ready to help. Click here to book a call with our team.

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