phishing

We are in unprecedented times as COVID-19 spreads across the globe. Students of all ages are forced to attend classes online from home. Office workers are now forced to work from home. Because people are now forced to stay home in this era of “Social Distancing,” there has been an uptick in finances as less money is being spent by families. People are also streaming their entertainment services more as well. These are prime situations for cybercriminals, in particular, brand phishers.

What is brand phishing?

Brand phishing attacks are when a cybercriminal tries to imitate the official website of a well-known brand using a similar domain name or URL as well as using a site design that looks almost identical to the brand site they’re imitating. Cybercriminals use this technique to steal sensitive information from the people that they are targeting. This information could be credit card information, bank account information, personal details, etc. They will try and get this information through imitation by email, mobile, or fraud websites. Anyone and any business is susceptible to brand phishing, so everyone should be aware of brand phishing; but some people and business are more at risk than others.

Who is susceptible to brand phishing?

The top three types of websites that are susceptible to phishers are technology sites, banking sites, and other media sites. Sites that require you to enter personal information, credit card information, etc. are going to be the ones that are targeted by cyber criminals. Although these are the top three websites being targeted by the cyber criminals, nobody is immune from brand phishing.

What brands are known for being faked by phishers?

In Quarter 1 of 2020, Apple was the number one faked brand for phishing while Netflix was a close second. Both of those companies require credit card information to be put on the accounts of the users, which makes them prime candidates to be imitated by phishers. Other top companies that were faked in Q1 of 2020 were Yahoo, Paypal, Chase, and Amazon. Just like Apple and Netflix, each one of these websites has personal information, including credit card info. Of course not all emails and notifications from these brands are going to be from phishers; just look out for the emails or notifications that look suspicious. Again, it comes down to being aware of brand phishing as no brand or company will be immune to this.

During this unusual time, cyber criminals are licking their lips with the possibility of acquiring so much information from so many people due to the stay at home orders. There’s no way to prevent it from happening, but being cautious and being aware of brand phishing is the best defense against it. Be vigilant and be cautious when you are disclosing any type of personal information online.

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Phishing is a common cybercrime in today’s tech-savvy society. We’ve all heard the term and know that it’s bad, but how much do you really know about what phishing is, how to recognize a phishing message, and how to protect your network? This helpful guide has all the details to help you turn your business’s IT network into a “No Phishing Zone”.

What Is Phishing?

Phishing is a form of fraud that occurs when a target is contacted by either text, phone, or email by an individual acting as a legitimate person or company. The hacker uses phishing emails to administer either malicious attachments or links, which then allows them to extract private information from their victims, such as their account information and login credentials.

In many cases, these messages containing malicious links and attachments appear to be from an individual or company that they know. The objective of the phishing message is to either install malware on the victim’s device, or to guide them to a malicious website in order to mislead them into entering financial or personal information. This could include account usernames and passwords, credit card information, etc.

How to Recognize a Phishing Message

Email phishing is by far the most common type of phishing scam used to target businesses. The most successful phishing emails or messages are difficult to differentiate from legitimate emails. This is because cybercriminals will often pose as someone you know. Closer inspection of the email will often reveal the truth, however. Some indications of phishing could include misspelled URLs, names and email addresses, requests to verify personal or financial information, or messages with grammatical and spelling mistakes. However, if your network, email, or website have critical security vulnerabilities, it is difficult to prevent phishing and other types of cybercrime.

Know Your Technology Vulnerabilities

It is critical to keep your customer information and business data protected. Rest assured, hackers will work just as hard as you do to find ways to access your data through vulnerabilities in your network, website, and email system. You need to get and stay at least a step ahead of them. To help keep your valuable business information secure, ThrottleNet is offering a free External Vulnerability Audit to discover your weak spots before hackers do.

Discovering Your Network's Weak Spots

A Free ThrottleNet External Vulnerability Audit Checks For:

Domain vulnerabilities: ensures client information is secure and your URL is safe from malware and phishing.
Website weaknesses: scans your website for possible threats. This could include malware, blacklisting status, website errors, and software issues.
Email threats: searches for proper spam filtering to prevent malware and phishing attacks, and ensures your email server is not blacklisted.
Network security issues: looks your network to find all possible open external entryway threats, such as misconfigured services or ports.

Once your audit is performed, ThrottleNet will contact you to review the results and discuss possible solutions to safeguard your company’s data and IT infrastructure.

Get a Free IT Vulnerability Check in St. Louis, MO

Let ThrottleNet detect your weak spots before cybercriminals do. To get started, contact ThrottleNet to get your free audit. Don’t become phish bait! ThrottleNet will eliminate the hooks and network vulnerabilities to ensure your business IT is a “No Phishing Zone”.

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Keeping your mobile devices secure is essential since a huge amount of time each day is spent on them. Opposite of what people might think, mobile security requires a different approach compared to computer security. This requires individuals to continue learning about mobile security.

Tips for Mobile Security

First and foremost, be aware of the permissions allowed for mobile devices on your network. Many times, people are unaware of the terms and conditions for many software downloads, registrations, etc. Skimming over these permissions could lead to security risks and has the possibility to release your personal information.

Other tips for Mobile Security include:

Set up a passcode
Keep a remote backup for your data
Stay logged out of your accounts
Keep your operating system up to date

WiFi Phishing

WiFi Phishing continues to be a dangerous social engineering attack because hackers can bypass security altogether. It is important to know how to spot this type of attack because hackers position themselves to look just like the network connection you normally interact and users easily hand over login information exposing their network and information.

Tips to Follow:

Be aware of any unsecured WiFi network
Double-check the name of the network
Don’t enter personal data on a public network

How to Spot Phishing Emails:

Spelling errors
A sense of urgency
Links or attachments
Odd “sent from” addresses

What is Smishing?

Smishing is a form of phishing and is essentially the same as phishing, but instead, cybercriminals send fraudulent (SMS) text messages to trick you into clicking a link that can infect your mobile device. Smishing has become a growing threat to online security.

How Would I Know That I’m Being Smished?

The main element to staying safe on your mobile devices is to only reply to text messages from people you know. Basic precautions you can take when keeping your mobile devices secure include not clicking on texts that you received from a phone number that does not look like one, not clicking on links from people you do not know, and never installing applications from an SMS rather than the official app store.

Are you worried your IT systems aren’t protecting you from cybercriminal attacks? Contact ThrottleNet today to learn more about the services we offer and how we can keep you protected. Keep your personal information secure, contact ThrottleNet today for all your mobile security needs!