Verizon’s Data Breach Report states that 91% of company data breaches start with an email. Infogressive believes that knowing how to identify phishing emails will help keep your system secure and data safe. These are 7 signs of a phishing email to be aware of:
- Unfamiliar or illegitimate address – If your bank’s email is usually admin@firstbank.com, and the email is from admin-firstbank@gmail.com, it should probably be deleted. Or, if the display name doesn’t match the address, delete the email. For example, if the email is from “Google Team”, but the address is jrife1234@e-us.com, be cautious.
- A sense of urgency – “Urgent!” or “Action Required!” in the subject line is suspicious. Wouldn’t a business partner have a more professional subject line, even in an urgent email?
- Generic greeting or salutation – If a brand you trust doesn’t address you by name, it may be a sign of trouble. Don’t be fooled by “valued customer” or “user”.
- Spelling and grammar mistakes – If you know a sender has teams dedicated to communications, frequent grammar and spelling mistakes should be a big red flag.
- Uncommon or unexpected requests – If ever asked for personal information, rethink the request and make sure it makes sense. If the invoice doesn’t look like those you’ve received in the past, or if you already filled out your tax documents for the year, do not engage.
- Suspicious links – An easy way to identify an untrustworthy link is to hover over before clicking, and double check that the destination is the site you intend to visit.
- Suspicious attachments – You should probably avoid attachments unless they were requested or expected. Avoid attachments ending in .exe. That said, bad files can come in various forms including PowerPoints and PDFs. Always consider whether the attachment makes sense before clicking.
For more information on phishing, check out the Infogressive article, or their Phishing and Security Awareness Training datasheet.
Contact us today to learn more about how Infogressive can protect your system.