What is Phishing Emails & How to Spot them

1. Phishing Emails & How to Spot them Cyber-attacks come in a variety of formats and with the advancement of technology it continues to improve. Phishing is a common type of cyber-attack used by cyber criminals, and according to Proofpoint’s threat report, 75% of organizations experienced a Phishing attack in 2020 (Proofpoint 2021 state of the Phish report).Cyber criminals found a higher success rate in achieving their goals thorough email phishing rather than any other approach. What is Phishing? First, we must define phishing, phishing is a malicious method used by cyber criminals to collect confidential data from users. The attackers pose as a trustworthy individual ororganization.Phishing attacks may be used for financial extortion, identity gaining unauthorized access to the victim’s account. theft, and

2. 5 Ways to Identify a Phishing Email 1- ALWAYS check the sender domain before interacting with the email. This is one of the easiest giveaways to the hacker’s scheme. If the email is truly from your bank, then you would receive it from a private domain not a public one such as @gmail.com or @hotmail.com. 2- Spelling mistakes and grammatical error are evident in phishing emails. When an organization sends out an official email to its employees or customers they run it through a spell-checking tool to verify before sending. Which is why, when you see multiple errors in an email do not overlook it as simple mistakes, instead take it as a sign to not interact with it any further. 3- In phishing emails, malicious links and attachments are a staple. This way when you click on them you singlehandedly corrupted your cyber privacy. These attachments download malwares that can hack into your system and steal your personal data. So, do not be hasty on clicking anything until you determine the authenticity of it. 4- When you receive an email stating you won a prize or free subscription to something you never interacted with or visited, that can indicate the legitimacy of the sender. Also, when you start receiving newsletters for something you did not sign up for then it is a high chance of it being a phishing email. 5- Cyber criminals will most likely try to scare the victim into providing them the information they need by sending an important email that required immediate action for example it can be an email disguised as their bank or place of work, they do so by stating “Warning! Account will be closed if not…” and etc. This will urge the recipient in following the warnings afraid of any damage without thoroughly looking through the email checking for potential flaws. Bonus: You could also implement a phishing simulation solution such as PhishGuard that trains your employees specifically about one of the most fundamental security threats, and to educate users on how to respond to the growing phishing security risks! PhishGuard also enables periodic assessment, measurement, and monitoring of your employees’ readiness to detect phishing scams. Get In Touch With Us: Hala@cerebra.sa cerebra.sa Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, King Fahad Road, Riyadh + 966 11 217 0638