Learn How To Curb Spear Phishing Attacks?

Written by Millgate 07/03/2023

There are 15 billion spam emails travelling across the internet every single day. This means your email filters are overworked and could accidentally let some malicious content through without your knowledge. Your data is one click away from being compromised and spear phishing can target you individually, disguised as personal and relevant emails. Hence, you open them unknowingly and leak crucial corporate and customer information for the hackers to use.

More than 50% of IT professionals have stated that phishing attacks pose the utmost security concern. Not taking the right actions against these concerns can compromise your data, which can in turn lead to your business losing trust among your clients.

Why is it crucial for your business to stop phishing attacks?

Phishing attacks are not just harmful to the individual, but also to the entire organisation. It could lead to the loss of money and customer information being stolen. This is extremely harmful to your reputation and can drastically affect the trust clients put in your business. It can also disrupt your operational activities and cause further loss to your business. Plus, you could be non-compliant if you’re not taking enough precautions against phishing attacks and your organisation could be fined for it as well. On top of everything else, intellectual properties like projects and trade secrets that need to be kept safe could be stolen.

Here are some ways you can curb Spear Phishing attacks.

Specialised email security solutions

With the increasing number of email-borne attacks, it’s essential to target your security solution to your emails, to prevent any malware, phishing or viruses from coming into your networks. These solutions detect and analyse emails before they even reach you, ensuring nothing phishy (get it?) is going on in there.

Click the link to see how Millgate’s expert security team can help you with your business’s needs.

 Awareness Training

Educating employees on what Phishing is, how harmful it can be, and how to detect a suspicious email, can help stop spear phishing in your organisation. This can be done through regular testing and training of the employees on the various security threats. This is especially important for high-risk departments like Finance and Sales, which have sensitive customer and company information, which when exposed could be extremely harmful to your business.

Regular Updates

Imagine an old clock with grinding gears. How would you treat it? You would open it up, oil it well, and change some faulty parts, so it works flawlessly again. Your software systems need regular looking after and updating. In particular, your security tools that are responsible for keeping all your information protected will need constant updates. These updates protect your network from phishing attacks and viruses that are getting smarter day by day and can penetrate an old system easily. Getting ahead of such attacks and updating your security will help to ensure that phishing attacks are at bay.

Multi-Factor Authentication

You’ve probably come across multi-factor authentication in its various forms. It can be through your phone, like a call or a unique number being texted to you, or by a dedicated app, that lets you log into an application. It is a layer on top of your standard password and adds an extra step to enter any kind of portal. It adds an extra blanket of protection to your security system. So even if hackers gain access to your passwords, there is still a wall protecting your information from phishing attacks.

Encryption and Tokenisation

When you type in a password on Google, you’ve probably seen dots or asterisks where your password should be. Encryption does the same to your documents. Sensitive information can be redacted or hidden from a third party or anyone who doesn’t have access to this information. Tokenisation works the same way, where sensitive information is scrambled and in the wrong order of sequences, to add extra protection for your information.

As well as standard software solutions for security, Millgate partners with a range of dedicated phishing awareness training providers, who can simplify and automate awareness training for your organisation. So whether it’s tech, training or both that your people need to stay secure, reach out today for a friendly conversation about your specific requirements and we’ll be happy to help.