You may have heard of terms, such as Malware, or ransomware like people discuss cybersecurity. These are nothing more than different types of programs, cyber attackers used to infect computers and devices. A common term used to describe all these different programs is the word malware. Simply put, malware is software that is used to perform malicious actions. In fact, the term malware is a combination of the words, malicious and software. Cyber attackers try to install malware on your computers or mobile devices to gain control over them. Once installed, these Cyber attackers can use malware to spy on your online activities, steal your passwords and files, or use your system to attack others. Cybercriminals these days are not going after company systems anymore but are targeting company’s users. They know that any employee can be spoofed or tricked easily via fishing email to install Malware or Virus.
Phishing is a type of attack that uses email or messaging services to trick you into taking an action, such as opening an infected email attachment, or clicking on a malicious link. Cyber attackers don’t know who will fall victim, they simply know, the more phishing emails they send the more fish they will catch. In a phishing attack, cyber attackers, put out bait for you in the form of an electronic message. Their email is designed to look authentic, and it is often appearing to come from a trusted source. The attackers often don’t know much about you personally. So, they choose a familiar bait, they think people will go for such as a message from a popular online service or brand of credit card.
Another type of popular email attack is Social Engineering. Rather than hacking enjoy system, an attacker can use email to gather sensitive information from an organization’s users, or get users to perform actions that further attack. A common social engineering attack is email spoofing, in which one person or program successfully masquerades as another by falsifying the sender information is shown in emails to hide the true origin, unintentional acts by authorized users.
Here are some tip on how to avoid getting caught in the Phishing Scam:
- Never click links in email from unknown sources. Don’t be in a hurry to jump on every link text and attachment, be skeptical of messages that are unexpected or seem odd.
- Avoid using a personal account for transmitting company data.
- Make sure that you don’t risk your company’s security, and your job by transmitting sensitive company data via your own personal computer or email address.
- Always remember to sign out when you finish with secure websites.
- Don’t click on suspect links.
- If a link looks hidden or if it comes from an unfamiliar source, simply don’t click it. It might take you to an unspecified location and possibly inject malware into your machine when you attempt to download the page.
- Be cautious of messages that say dear customer, or don’t address you by name.
- Hovering your mouse over a link before you click it, so you can see the true destination.
- Sometimes we even give sensitive information away by accident. One of the biggest culprits, is the Reply All button on your email, or the group text function on your smartphone. Always be sure you know exactly who your responses are going to. In addition, be careful when you’re typing in email addresses, make sure that you spell them correctly.
- Never respond to spam emails.
- Always update your web browsers to the latest version
- Make sure you have a reliable antivirus or Malware suite installed. This will help if you have accidentally clicked any suspicious email link.
Hire the services of a professional IT security company as a Telus customer service. The company will ensure your email is secure and will manage, maintain, and monitor your email. Their IT security experts will enforce rigid email security strategies that will keep your emails safe.
