Phishing scams remain among the most prevalent and successful types of cyberattacks today, so being aware of their danger to businesses like yours is crucial. Your business could easily be the next victim if you don’t understand how threat actors leverage phishing emails.
In this blog, you’ll learn the intent behind phishing emails, the various phishing attacks, and, most importantly, how to secure your email and business.
The goal behind phishing scams
Cybercriminals use phishing emails to lure unsuspecting victims into taking actions that can impact business operations, such as sending money, sharing passwords, downloading malware, or revealing sensitive data. The primary intent behind a phishing attack is to steal your money, data or both.
Financial theft — The most common aim of a phishing attempt is to steal your money. Scammers employ various tactics, including business email compromise (BEC), to carry out fraudulent fund transfers or ransomware attacks to extort money.
Data theft — For cybercriminals, your data, such as usernames and passwords, identity information (e.g., social security numbers) and financial data (e.g., credit card numbers or bank account information), is as good as gold. They can use your login credentials to commit financial theft or inject malware. Your sensitive data can also be sold on the dark web for profit.
Be vigilant and look out for these phishing attempts:
- If an email asks you to click on a link, be wary. Scammers send out phishing scams with links containing malicious software that can steal your data and personal information.
- If an email directs you to a website, it could be a malicious website that can steal your personal information, such as your login credentials.
- If it contains an attachment, please be aware. Malicious extensions disguised as looking like a document, invoice or voicemail can infect your computer and steal your personal information.
- If an email tries to rush you into taking urgent action, such as transferring funds, be suspicious. Verify the authenticity of the request before taking any action.
Different types of phishing
Phishing attacks constantly evolve and can target businesses of all sizes. While phishing emails are a standard method cybercriminals use, they also use texts, voice calls and social media messaging. Here are the different kinds of phishing traps that you should watch out for:
- Spear phishing — Cybercriminals send highly personalized emails targeting individuals or businesses to convince them to share sensitive information such as login credentials or credit card information. Spear phishing emails are also used for spreading infected malware.
- Whaling — A type of spear phishing, whale phishing or whaling is a scam targeting high-level executives where the perpetrators impersonate trusted sources or websites to steal information or money.
- Smishing — An increasingly popular form of cyberattack, smishing uses text messages claiming to be from trusted sources to convince victims to share sensitive information or send money.
- Vishing — Cybercriminals use vishing or voice phishing to call victims while impersonating somebody from the IRS, a bank or the victim’s office, to name a few. The primary intent of voice phishing is to convince the victim to share sensitive personal information.
- Angler phishing — also known as social media phishing — is a type of scam that primarily targets social media users. Cybercriminals with fake customer service accounts trick disgruntled customers into revealing their sensitive information, including bank details. Scammers often target financial institutions and e-commerce businesses.
- Brand impersonation — also known as brand spoofing — is a phishing scam that uses emails, texts, voice calls, and social media messages. Cybercriminals impersonate a popular business to trick its customers into revealing sensitive information. While brand impersonation is primarily targeted at customers, the incident can tarnish the brand’s image.
Bolster your email security
Your next step is to put what you’ve learned into practice. Begin by applying the strategies above and remain vigilant for any unusual attempts by cybercriminals.
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