A recent bank acquisition is a perfect example of how phishing can benefit from the news of the day. Last week, attacks related to recent bank acquisitions increased. Due to the increase in this activity, you should be careful when receiving junk mail that may be a phishing attack.
The stock market crash will undoubtedly lead to more spam and attacks in the coming weeks.
These attacks cannot be evaded. However, you can avoid becoming a victim by following 10 simple steps.
Cyber criminals are creative and are constantly looking for new ways to attract more victims. Therefore, I say that phishing attacks cannot be prevented. However, there are some basic common sense steps to avoid becoming a victim by following 10 simple steps.
1. Make sure your computer is updated regularly and is scanned (on schedule or manually) with a corporate-grade computer security package. There is a big difference in quality between OTC products and professional IT services.
2.2. Please visit Windows Update to make sure your Windows desktop protection is up to date. Make sure that you have updated the antivirus program that was updated on your computer.
3. Do not trust emails that urgently request any kind of personal information. Banks and other reputable businesses and organizations do not work that way.
4. Never click on a link in an email that claims to be from a legitimate company or organization. Many of these attacks click links in emails to download Trojan viruses and other malware to your computer. Before clicking the link, make sure the email is from a trusted source.
5.5. Do not enter your username and password until you are sure you are visiting a legitimate website. Legal organizations typically do not ask for username and password verification except by default.
6. Do not call or use links in suspicious emails. Be sure to check your phone number from a trusted source before making a call. Otherwise, you may be the victim of fraud. 7. Doubt all non-personal emails. Criminals send phishing emails to millions of people. For this reason, they are by nature common.
8.8. They often request personal financial information. Please do not enter any kind of personal information from the online form, such as passwords, usernames, social security numbers, credit card numbers, etc. Such a request should be a big warning.
9. Do not open email attachments. In particular, email attachments with file extensions ".scr", ".com", and ".exe" can be malicious.
10. Always report suspicious activity to a fraudulent company or organization.
This kind of crime cannot be prevented. However, applying the information in this article, Phishing Attacks: 10 Easy Steps to Prevent Being a Victim, does not fall into that trap. Very few people are fooled by phishing attacks. Cybercriminals understand this. They know that when they send millions of phishing emails, that number is on their side. It takes only a few fools to make good profits. With the right knowledge, you are very unlikely to fall into this type of crime. Warren Franklin has been involved in the information security field for over a decade. His company, Franklin Risk Management Services, focuses on protecting the company from data breaches, identity theft, or other criminal activity. For more information on precautionary steps to protect your business, please visit Franklin Risk Management Services [http://franklinrms.com/] or send us the following email: Click Here!
