Phishing attacks come in many forms. Sometimes a scammer impersonates your boss over email, requesting your phone number. Other times, they impersonate your phone company, telling you that your billing information is out of date. In both cases, these attacks are carried out to steal your personal information.
While you’d think that your employees would be able to spot these scams, phishing statistics suggest otherwise. In 2021, 86% of organizations had at least one user try to connect to a phishing website. Since IBM research suggests that the average data breach cost is $4.24 million, it’s important to take every precaution possible to protect from phishing scams.
Here are some security tips to keep your business safe.
Educate Your Employees
If your employees don’t know the red flags of a phishing attack, you’re more susceptible to a costly data breach. You may want to require your employees to complete cybersecurity trainings during their onboarding process. This way you can warn them about common phishing tactics and ways to stay safe on the job.
Multi-factor authentication is the practice of using two or more channels to confirm your identity when logging into a platform. This could mean that when you log into your email, a security code is sent to your phone to ensure it’s you behind the screen. If an employee’s password is compromised, multi-factor authentication can prevent a cybercriminal from accessing their data.
Know the Warning Signs
Phishing emails have common patterns that can alert you to danger. If you spot grammar mistakes, urgent subject lines or unusual requests in an email, these are potential warning signs. Spotting these dangers will help keep your workplace safe.
Closing Thoughts
Phishing scams are becoming more common and more dangerous to businesses around the world. To protect your business, educate your employees, use multi-factor authentication and know the warning signs of a scam.
