Phishing awareness begins with you. Over 3 billion phishing emails are sent every day, and far more could be going undetected or unreported. Phishing attacks use fraudulent emails to steal personal information. Common phishing attacks are address spoofing, which means using a legitimate email to send malicious content, malware warnings, leveraging fear to incite a response, and credential harvesting, gathering emails, passwords, and other information for reuse.
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Phishing Emails Are The Initial Step Of A Sophisticated Attack
This isn’t the only problem; phishing is often the first step of a more sophisticated attack. More than half of all phishing emails contain malware, which can then be used to conduct ransomware attacks. Ransomware attacks on big businesses can have major effects. Namely, the ransomware cyberattack on Colonial Pipeline locked down digital equipment, crippling the supply line, which led to a massive gas panic around the country.
More than 60% of small businesses close permanently 6 months after a phishing attack. In addition, it takes IT teams 83 hours on average to uncover malicious emails. Not only does phishing cost businesses time and money, but it also hurts customer retention and productivity. Customers must be notified of a data breach, and 70% of consumers stop shopping at a business post data breach.
Phishing is easy to overlook. The average person spends 28% of their day screening and filtering emails. 1 in every 25 branded emails are phishing attacks, and because of this high volume, it’s easy to overlook potential attacks. 19.8% of employees click phishing links, and unfortunately, if you fall victim to phishing, there’s not much you can do. Only 3 in 100,000 cyber crimes are prosecuted.
Securing Your Information
Keeping your information secure is now more important than ever. Establishing an employee training program can lower scams. 85% of all scams involve human error. While it won’t stop all phishing attacks, it will help lower your chances. 54% of attacks involve credential harvesting, and 53% of businesses experience invoice fraud. Verifying all invoices and payments can help protect your business. While 51% of attacks are too advanced for regular protection programs, keeping an eye out for discrepancies can still make a difference.
The best way to protect your information is to invest in email security programs that stop phishing before it hits your inbox. It offers advanced AI that catches and eliminates potential threats. Additionally, it configures like an app, has fast integration with other tools, deploys inside the cloud, and covers connected cloud operations. Because of these features, companies saw a 99.2% reduction in phishing emails. Make it easy to stop phishing emails before they ever reach your inbox.
Courtesy of Avanan
