Online security has continually caused a significant challenge to individuals and organizations due to fraudulent activities such as phishing. Phishing refers to deceitful cybercrime where individuals attempt to obtain secure information such as passwords, usernames, and PIN numbers by disguising themselves as legitimate institutions or persons (Aleroud & Zhou, 2017). The process of phishing may involve mediums such as emails or websites, through tailored attacks such as spear-phishing or whaling. Organizations that use connected platforms are at risk of these occurrences since they can lead to massive data breaches. In most cases, phishing involves sending malicious emails in bulk to a large group of people intending to get some responses (Gupta et al., 2018). Due to their large-scale operations, response rates are usually low, hence the huge number of attempts. On the other hand, spear-phishing refers to emails that appear to emanate from close associates of the target, tricking them into opening those (Aleroud & Zhou, 2017). Its nature makes it harder to detect since the communication is personalized to particular employees in the organization. Lastly, whaling involves targeting high-level employees, such as executives or CEOs with direct access to sensitive company information (Gupta et al., 2018). These attacks are also highly tailored by using their personal information in the sent emails. Thus, phishing poses a security risk to us by exposing critical information and susceptibilities in our information technology systems and requires a raft of preventive measures to mitigate it.
Phishing carries massive consequences when successful in any institution due to the security risk they pose. Access to sensitive information leads to a ruined reputation regarding the data breach (Vayansky & Kumar, 2018). Our clients expect their information to be protected at all costs; hence, such attacks that expose their data affect this relationship. Phishing may also lead to the loss of intellectual property that the company amassed through research and development. By compromising trade secrets, patented technology, and information, our company may lose millions of dollars since such data may be sold online to the highest bidder (Aleroud & Zhou, 2017). Additionally, such breaches may also affect our company’s value by impacting investor confidence. A decline in value can lead to losses due to the lack of capital to perform critical activities (Vayansky & Kumar, 2018). Finally, exposure of data may also lead to regulatory fines aimed at protecting public interests. The government formulates laws specifically to protect the public from unauthorised use and access of their information. Therefore, as holders of such information, we are bound to protect it by all means possible failure to which the applicable penalties are imposed. This can negatively affect our company since such fines are unplanned and affect budgeting and planning processes. Consequently, phishing has both financial and brand image repercussions to our organization in cases where it may occur.
Prevention and protection thus play an essential role when it comes to issues of avoiding phishing. Therefore, learning how to avoid the baits presented can avoid huge complications. Firstly, as an employee, you must be aware of any emails or links purporting to be from internal or external stakeholders. These criminals rely on the susceptibility of people for successful operations. Therefore, confirming the email address by checking its source and any red flags, such as grammatical errors, can ensure that it comes from a trusted source (Aleroud & Zhou, 2017). Any strange ones must be reported promptly for further investigation. Apart from that, you should ensure that your firewalls and antivirus solutions in both work and home computers are regularly updated (Hadnagy, 2018). This ensures that all emails are scanned, while malicious content is identified and blocked before causing any damage. Furthermore, adhering to the security policy requiring the updating and using complex passwords further protects personal and company information (Aleroud & Zhou, 2017). This makes it difficult for intruders to infiltrate the system using simple passwords. The above actions can thus help each employee play a role in protecting their personal and company information from attackers.
However, we are all human beings, and mistakes can happen at any point. Therefore, in cases where you may suspect a particular email, link, or document you clicked, swift reporting can avert possible danger. Taking responsibility shows regard for everyone’s online security, hence, can avert possible threats. Identifying and reporting any emails or redirected websites that ask for personal information, such as passwords or PIN numbers, ensures that they can be blacklisted to prevent future threats (Vayansky & Kumar, 2018). Additionally, any potentially dangerous emails detected by firewalls or antivirus systems should be reported and deleted immediately to ensure they cannot be accessed. Swift action from the responsible teams can ensure the identification of threats under the shortest time possible to stop them from accessing any further critical data. It also enables a deep analysis of the systems to check the severity of a potential leak to guide the corrective actions (Gupta et al., 2018). As a result, we can work together to prevent phishing from causing real damage by identifying, isolating, and stopping them from accessing any sensitive information.
Therefore, phishing can pose a security risk to you and the organization by exposing critical information and susceptibilities to our information technology systems. With the continued evolution of technology, cybersecurity risks increase, posing a danger to organizations and individuals. Criminals have turned to the practice of social engineering, aiming to use the weaknesses of humans to gain access to privileged information. Detecting such scams becomes difficult hence more efforts must be put in place to prevent hackers from gaining access to sensitive data. Therefore, as an organization, we must understand the problems associated with such malicious occurrences to ensure the protection of our interests. In these attacks, intruders mainly attempt to obtain secure information. It involves sending malicious emails in bulk to a large group aiming to capture information from any single person that may fall for the tricks employed. On the other hand, spear-phishing refers to malicious emails that appear to be sent from known colleagues or relatives of the mark. Whaling is highly targeted and personalized to capture the attention of high-level employees in the organization. Such attacks may lead to personal and company data breaches, leading to loss of customer and investor confidence and regulatory fines. Therefore, to prevent phishing, employees must properly vet and report suspicious looking emails, links, or attachments to the responsible individuals. Additionally, antivirus solutions and firewalls must be regularly updated, while passwords should be complex and updated frequently. Protecting the company requires overall cooperation from everyone at the organization hence, each person must take responsibility to adhere to these guidelines.
References
Aleroud, A., & Zhou, L. (2017). Phishing environments, techniques, and countermeasures: A survey. Computers & Security, 68(17), 160-196.
Gupta, B. B., Arachchilage, N. A., & Psannis, K. E. (2018). Defending against phishing attacks: Taxonomy of methods, current issues, and future directions. Telecommunication Systems, 67(2), 247–267.
Hadnagy, C. (2018). Social engineering: The science of human hacking (2nd ed.). John Wiley & Sons.
Vayansky, I., & Kumar, S. Phishing – Challenges and solutions. Computer Fraud & Security, 2018(1), 15-20. Web.