Signs of Phishing to Look Out For

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 singlehandedly transformed how businesses conduct their operations. Remote work and telecommuting became the norm while on-site work became the exception and reserved only for processes that cannot be migrated online. This shift was facilitated by the existing IT solutions but the pandemic forced the adoption. However, this digital transformation did not come without its associated risks. During this ‘new normal’, cybersecurity solutions companies have also observed an uncharacteristic increase in cyberattacks. One of the most common types of cyberattacks is phishing. In this article, our IT solutions expert will discuss the makings of a phishing attack and how to recognize one.

What is Phishing

There are many types of phishing attacks such as credit card phishing, bank phishing, and email phishing, but at its core, phishing aims to obtain sensitive information from unsuspecting individuals by posing as a legitimate institution through social engineering. The aforementioned sensitive information includes login credentials, credit card and banking details, PIN numbers, and OTP numbers.

What is Social Engineering  

Social engineering is a collective term for the techniques employed by fraudsters to persuade, manipulate, and deceive their victims. In phishing attacks, fraudsters would often employ urgency to pressure their victims to act quickly. For example, they would send emails or texts threatening a negative consequence (such as closure or blocking of an account) or a loss of opportunity (such as a prize that has to be claimed within a short period). In the target’s haste, they fail to realize that bank employees would never request sensitive details, especially over email. He also does not find it odd that he won something from a contest he did not join.

Cybersecurity Solutions for Preventing Phishing

In order to protect ourselves from phishing attacks, it would be wise to be wary of the following:

• Emails or calls demanding urgent action. If it was really urgent, your service provider would call you but would never ask for personal information such as passwords over the phone.
• Emails with bad grammar and spelling mistakes. If you have been receiving regular emails from a specific company, you would find that they tend to have a certain tone and choice of words. If there is a change in tone and words used then that is a sign. You can always confirm with the company the contents of the email by calling their office.
• Emails with links that send you to a site that requests your login credentials. If possible, bookmark all the critical sites that you regularly use such as your working email and online banking. Setting up two-factor authentication would also provide additional security.
• Emails that are too good to be true. Emails claiming you won a big prize are probably phishing scams.

Our IT Company Can Help Your Business Protect Its Employees

The tips our IT solutions experts mentioned above are just some of the ways your employees can detect and prevent phishing attempts. However, cybersecurity encompasses a broader area beyond its users, specifically hardware and software. Our company, BHT Solutions is a Houston-based IT company that can work with any company all over the country to ensure that their cybersecurity is in tiptop shape. Call us now and we can help you tailor-fit cybersecurity solutions that are responsive to your needs.