Phishers don’t have any set target or criteria before attacking. If they target businesses, that doesn’t mean they will not come after your customers or your employees.

Phishing attacks are soaring high this year, therefore a need to protect your businesses along with customers and employees has also increased. If you already have phishing plan, then it is fine, however, if you don’t then it is high time to implement an anti-phishing plan.

The technique used by a phisher doesn’t matter, it can be conventional, or it can be futuristic, soon or later someone somewhere could become a victim. Therefore, it is important to make sure your business is protected, and your customers are using safe email practices.

If your customers log in to fake portals, sooner or later they will come to you via your support channels in need of help, reorders, refunds and other queries. Also, if any of your employees have decided to take revenge and allow hackers to steal data, spy, network infiltration and demand ransom. This could put a dent in your business’ eminence. This is not it!

In this post, we will talk about some of the phishing campaigns’ targets. Along with that, we will take a look on how your customers and employees can detect a phish.

Phisher’s Targets

The PhishLabs’ 2018 Phishing Trends & Intelligence Report stated that in the second half of, 2017 online services were the topmost industry with a margin of 26.1% In which there were a huge number of phishing URLs disguising themselves as Microsoft Office 365 login pages.

As Office 365 is mostly used suite in businesses, which has also been testified by Microsoft itself. As per 2016 report, Microsoft has 340 million downloads of its mobile app, 60 million active commercial customers.

Also, a report has shown that no sector is left untouched from malware attacks. Trojans enticed victims from manufacturing, retail and education sector in 2018 with phishing emails. Ransomware also had a bad effect on businesses as well as government organizations.

No matter which organization or sector the victim belongs to, the hackers just need database including customer information such as emails and confidential information.

Now the question arises, what should be done?

Whereas it is impracticable to track or predict each threat model or what a hacker could do with the data stolen, you can play safe by putting an anti-phishing plan to action. Also, you need to give an insight to your employees on the cybersecurity policy and also update your website with anti-phishing advice for customers.

Also Read : Why Security Strategies & Password Management Are Not Enough?

Tips For Your Employees To Avoid Phishing

• Hackers might not only use an attachment in a Phishing email to initiate an attack. The hacker could also send out fill out form. However, a rogue file can also be used to backdoor a network. Therefore, in case you have any doubt, don’t open the file and immediately contact the contact listed in the email to confirm.
• If you open emails on your mobile devices, you can be a victim of phishing if you don’t pay attention to the lengthy URLs. These scam URLs get an upper hand due to the small screen, the visible part of the email is customized to look legit. So, always double check the URL before taping on them. If it looks weird, then don’t click on it.
• Always review apps before installing them on mobile devices as well as your desktop. Check for all the suspicious signs.
• Read the promotional content on social media especially the ads that interest you with before clicking on it as it can lead to phishing. Also, discourage employees to use social media from work computers.

Now Some Tips For Your Customers To Avoid Phishing

• Presence of padlock is not the only sign to prove that a website is real. These certificates can be acquired for free, and therefore hackers are taking advantage of it.
• If you receive an email with a restricted time limit to log in and buy some things or do a certain thing, then it should raise your eyebrows, as it could be a sign of danger.
• The URL displayed on an email is different from the URL which is shown when you float mouse on the link.
• Never click on links which ask for your logins as they are clearly a bad sign.
• Spot incorrect spellings, errors in email addresses, formatting and design, these could give you a hint.

To conclude

So, in this way, you can safeguard your businesses, employees and customers from getting victimized by phishing attacks. Also, opt for an anti-phishing plan and train your employees on how to treat a suspicious email could also help along.