The dangers of corporate phishing

Phishing is one of the dangers faced by companies in the course of their activities. These are real threats that can cause a lot of damage when an organization is affected. How to recognize phishing attempts and avoid them?

What is phishing and how does it work?

Phishing or phishing in French is a scam technique that hackers use on the internet. The hacker is impersonating a company or organization that you probably know and you sends an email whose content invites you to provide sensitive information. This may be your bank details, your account login information, or your identification data. The identity thief uses the logo and name of the company he is impersonating to appear more credible.

When your confidential information is obtained by the scammer, he can use it for fraudulent purposes or to steal large sums of money from you.

How to protect your business against phishing attacks?

To protect your business from phishing attacks, there are several steps you can take. The first is to educate your employees to help them recognize and avoid phishing attempts. They must know good practices in terms of computer security and information that should never be transmitted by email.

For security reasons, it may also be useful toperform a phishing test for gauge the level of vigilance of your employees. These types of tests are offered by specialized platforms that simulate phishing attacks. You have the possibility to select the targets of your tests, to define the desired level of realism and to observe in real time the behavior of your employees. These are very practical solutions to assess the resilience of your company and take the necessary measures to help the most vulnerable employees.

Several other practical tips are useful to protect against phishing attacks:

• avoid clicking on attachments or links that accompany a suspicious or dubious email,
• install on workstations a reliable antivirus that protects against malicious programs,
• enable automatic spam filtering features,
• check the address of the websites before entering confidential information (username, password, bank details, etc.).

You have to be constantly vigilant to keep a high level of protection against phishing attacks.

What to do if you think you’ve been the victim of a phishing attack?

If you think you have been the victim of an attack, you should immediately report fraudulent emails. If your work mailbox is targeted, it is advisable to transfer the message as soon as possible to the IT department so that the necessary arrangements can be made. This must necessarily be done before deleting the message.

You can also visit the site www.internet-signalement.gouv.fr, specially provided for the reporting of illegal content, to report the abuse to the competent authorities. The necessary measures will be taken to fight against the scammers.