Latest research from TSB finds almost that three quarters (75%) of users struggle to identify common scams, with young people most at risk.
The study took 2000 UK adults, who were shown a series of 20 emails and texts from third parties, 10 of which were genuine communications and a further 10 of which were fraudulent.
Shockingly only a quarter (25%) of respondents could identify all fraudulent messages imitating banks with just over a third (36%) correctly identifying the scams pretending to be from other common providers, such as mobile phone companies or retailers.
This research once again highlights the importance of having a robust cybersecurity policy, built up in layers that complement each other including an email security platform that filters and stops threats before they arrive in your inbox.
The First Line of Defence – Holistic IT’s Advanced Email Threat Protection
Holistic IT’s Advanced Email Threat Protection is an entirely cloud-based solution that can help protect you and your users from malicious emails eliminating threats and SPAM before they even touch your network.
It includes the following great features:
- Works with Microsoft Office 365 Exchange Online and On-Premise Exchange Servers
- User self-service quarantine portal
- In email weblink protection
- Attachment protection
- Advanced Anti-Virus Scanning and Sandboxing of Suspicious files
- Domain and User Identity protection – Prevent CEO Fraud
- Weekly domain level manager reports
The Last Line of Defence – User Awareness
Through no fault of their own, and mainly due to a lack of awareness, employees frequently open the virtual gates to attackers. Help them stay safe whilst using emails by following these 5 tips:
1. Subject to attack
Take a good look at the subject line. Does it seem unusual or out of character when you consider the sender? Were you expecting this type of email from this particular sender? If no, it is best to err on the side of caution and leave it alone – or better yet, delete it altogether.
2. New Email, who’s this?
Look at the “from” line of the sender versus the domain of the link within the email. Do they match? No? This could be a potentially malicious email.
3. Check for Mistakes?
Look for grammatical errors, misspellings and/or odd spacing. Most emails from reputable sources will not contain these types of errors.
4. Greetings Earthling.
Many phishing scams will start with very generic greetings such as “Dear Customer” or “Dear Sir/Madam.” Don’t fall for it.
5. You want me to go where?
Before clicking on that hyperlink in the email, hover over it to see the destination URL. Does it match the rest of the email? Does it look like a legitimate URL? Can’t safely decipher where that link will take you? If so, delete… delete… delete.
Want to find out more?
Give us a call on 01302 235050 to discuss how you can improve on your email security by using Advanced Email Threat Protection from Holistic IT or click here to see what else we can do for you and your business.