Phishing scams are one of the most widespread and successful types of cyberattacks even today. Therefore, businesses like yours must be aware of their risks. Your business could easily fall prey to these scams if you need help understanding how threat actors use phishing emails to their advantage.
In this blog, you'll learn about the purpose behind phishing emails, the different types of phishing attacks, and, most importantly, how to secure your email and business against them.
The Goal Behind Phishing Emails
Cybercriminals often utilize phishing emails to deceive unsuspecting victims into performing actions that can significantly impact business operations. These actions may include sending money, revealing sensitive data, downloading malware, or sharing passwords. The main objective behind a phishing attack is to steal the victim's money, data, or both. It is essential to remain cautious and vigilant, especially when dealing with suspicious emails or messages, to avoid falling prey to such attacks.
Financial Theft
The main goal of phishing is to steal money through fraudulent fund transfers or ransomware attacks.
Data Theft
Cybercriminals consider your data, including usernames, passwords, identity information like social security numbers, and financial data, such as credit card numbers or bank account information, as valuable as gold. With access to your login credentials, these criminals can commit financial theft and inject malware into your device. Moreover, your sensitive data can be sold on the dark web for a profit. It is crucial to take necessary measures to protect your personal information online.
Stay alert for phishing scams and protect yourself:
Be cautious if you receive an email asking you to click on a link. Scammers may send phishing emails with links that contain malicious software and can steal your personal information.
If an email includes a link, be cautious. The link may lead to a malicious website that can steal your personal information, such as login credentials.
If an email has an attachment, beware of malicious extensions that can infect your computer and steal personal information. Examples include extensions disguised as documents, invoices, or voicemails.
If you receive an email urging you to take immediate action, especially involving money, be cautious and verify the request's authenticity before proceeding.
Different Types of Phishing
It is crucial to understand that phishing attacks continually evolve and can target businesses of all sizes. Cybercriminals use various methods to carry out phishing attacks, including emails, text messages, voice calls, and social media messaging.
To protect yourself, you must be aware of the different phishing traps and be vigilant against them.
Spear Phishing
Scammers send personalized emails to trick individuals or businesses into sharing sensitive information, including login credentials or credit card details. Spear-phishing emails are also used to spread malware.
Whaling
A type of phishing scam, whale phishing or whaling targets high-level executives, impersonating trusted sources to steal information or money.
Smishing
An increasingly popular form of cyberattack, smishing uses text messages that claim to be from trusted sources to convince victims to share sensitive information or send money.
Vishing
Vishing or voice phishing is a tactic cybercriminals use to deceive victims by calling them while pretending to be someone from the IRS, a bank, or even from their office. The main goal of voice phishing is to trick the victim into sharing confidential personal information. It is essential to be cautious of unsolicited phone calls asking for personal details and verify the caller's authenticity before disclosing sensitive data.
Business Email Compromise (BEC)
BEC stands for Business Email Compromise. This phishing attack uses a seemingly legitimate email address to deceive the recipient, who is frequently a senior-level executive. The main objective of a BEC scam is to convince an employee to transfer money to the cybercriminal while making them believe it is a legitimate, authorized business transaction.
Angler Phishing
Social media phishing is a type of scam that is aimed at social media users. Cybercriminals use fake customer service accounts to trick unhappy customers into revealing their sensitive information, such as bank details. This type of scam is often targeted towards financial institutions and e-commerce businesses.
Brand Impersonation
Brand impersonation, also known as brand spoofing, is a type of phishing scam that involves using emails, texts, voice calls, and social media messages to trick customers of popular businesses into revealing sensitive information. The cybercriminals behind such scams pretend to be the legitimate business to gain the trust of unsuspecting victims. Although the main target of brand impersonation is the customers themselves, the incident can also cause severe damage to the reputation of the business being spoofed.
Bolster Your Email Security
Emails play a critical role in the success of any business. However, ensuring email best practices and safety standards can be challenging. Partnering with an IT service provider like us is highly recommended to address this issue. We have the necessary resources and tools to protect your business from cyberattacks, allowing you to focus on vital tasks with peace of mind. To know more, contact us now!
In the meantime, to enhance your email security and avoid potential pitfalls, download our eBook - Your Guide to Email Safety.
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