In the early days of email phishing scams, it was easier to spot a fake. They would be long, drawn-out emails about some prince in a far-off country or “military member” who needed your help to transfer funds, and you’d be promised an attractive sum.

Or you may have won some “lottery” and were asked to send all the details someone would need for identity theft in order to collect your prize. But those scams have mostly gone by the wayside now as email scams have become more sophisticated and more business-focused.

Now phishing emails are almost indistinguishable from those you would receive from a legitimate and well-known company. Using their logos and signatures to trick recipients into making a single click that could devastate a network.

83% of organizations globally experienced a phishing attack in 2018. (Proofpoint)

Our Email Security Team at Triada Networks is called in often to help New York and New Jersey companies protect against phishing and malware attacks. Some have already been compromised and we go in and clean up the aftermath of a network breach. Others have seen the costs their fellow financial industry professionals have paid after a breach and want to do everything they can to defend against one.

We use a top-rated application called IRONSCALES to provide an integrated solution and robust protection against phishing emails that may contain malware, viruses, and other malicious threats. When it comes to our clients’ email security, we leave no stone unturned towards air-tight data protection.

Why are Phishing Emails So Dangerous?

Because phishing has been around so long, almost since the advent of email itself, people tend to think it may be a threat that’s waned over the years. The opposite is true.

Phishing email is so prevalent and so dangerous because… it works.

Email remains the number one cyberattack method for several reasons:

• It’s cheap to send out millions of emails
• Only a few need to be opened for hackers to get a “pay day”
• Phishing emails can often get past the weaker IT security programs
• Hackers exploit human error to trick their victims into downloading a malicious script

On average, 4% of people will click on a phishing email, which may not sound like a lot, but you only need one single click that downloads a malicious threat onto your network to experience:

• Login credentials being stolen
• Financial records being compromised
• A major data breach of client digital files
• Loss of files or a ransomware attack
• Spyware stealing corporate data for months or years undetected

The good news is that with the right cybersecurity plan and IT professional (like Triada Networks!) assisting you, your business can be protected from all those dangerous threats… and the costs that accompany them.

How to Protect Yourself from Phishing Attacks

Hackers lurk in staff inboxes every day by the use of phishing emails that are designed to look legitimate and hide among real email. In the course of a busy day, it’s easy for an employee to get fooled as they’re trying to get through the tasks in their inbox, and this is what hackers count on.

Here a few of the best practices for keeping your network safe and preventing a data breach that could cost you dearly both in money and firm reputation.

Ongoing Employee Training

There’s no replacement for employee education when it comes to spotting and thwarting a phishing attack. According to Proofpoint’s 2019 State of the Phish Report, organizations saw a 60% increase in employee detection of phishing emails after security awareness training.

Showing employees phishing examples like the one below, which is designed to look like it’s from AT&T (but isn’t), helps them know how to differentiate phishing from a legitimate email.

Hovering (and not clicking) over “right here” reveals the fake phishing link.

Software Designed for Anti-Phishing & Email Security

Not all anti-virus software or firewalls are designed with adequate protections against phishing emails. The right kind can help your users detect and avoid any breaches due to these threats.

As mentioned, we use IRONSCALES to protect our clients, and here are a few reasons why Triada chose this email security software over all others.

• Real-time email scanning
• Sender reputation scoring
• URL/Link & attachments scanning
• Affected inbox real-time reporting
• Automated remediation & mitigation
• Intelligent spam handling
• Crowd-sourced intelligence

Good Password Protocols

When is the last time you changed your email password? It’s probably been years if you’re like most people. It’s a pain to have to change a password on all your devices, so many people just don’t do it often enough, or at all.

Instituting good password policies like changing emails every X number of months, using strong passwords with a combination of letters, numbers, and symbols, and using different passwords for every login credential helps add another important layer to your email security.

Would You Like a Free IRONSCALES Demonstration?

Email security is just as important as any other type of IT security, and many would say it’s the most important piece of a cybersecurity plan. Find out why IRONSCALES is an award-winning program and why we swear by it for reliable protection against phishing and other email threats.

Get a free email security demo today by scheduling a consultation online or calling 201-297-7778.