While most businesses are familiar with user training, many deem this increasingly necessary step to be a waste of time and money. Unfortunately, ignoring the significance of user training can be detrimental to the company. Discovering problems,seeing the extent of the damage and adjusting errors can end up costing more money than the training.
At DFDR, we believe it’s necessary to establish good practices to avoid attacks. This article will cover the most common cyber crimes along with tips on preventing attacks that can steal information.
Social Engineering
Social engineering, the psychological manipulation to obtain confidential information, is the method hackers use to gather passwords, data, etc. without the target even realizing it. When it comes to social engineering threats, they solely rely on human psychology rather than a virus or malware to attack the system, much like an online con-artist. For example, the attacker could ask multiple questions that seem friendly or conversational but secretly have the intention to discover your birthday or potential answers to security questions.
Be wary of messages asking for a social security number, credit card numbers, bank info or any other information that can be used to access personal or professional accounts.
Phishing
Phishing is one of the most common forms of cyber crime. Attackers tend to pose as generally trusted people, such as banking or government officials, and target through phone or email. The attacker will get the target’s attention by creating a message with a sense of urgency, so the target is more inclined to go to the fake site and open dangerous files.The target of the attack is then lured into providing personal and sensitive data like account information. The info is then used to access valuable accounts and can result in identity theft and financial loss.
Re-using passwords
It is essential for employees to understand the importance of using different passwords for each account, both professional and personal. It’s a common habit to use the same password for every account because it is easy to remember and seems to keep things simpler. Once one password is compromised, any account that has the same password with your email or other information will also be jeopardized.
Security awareness isn’t a skill that should exist only within office walls. If a false link or skeptical website is identified as a threat before compromising sensitive information, it should be avoided to save personal information and company data from serious damage.
Training users in the aforementioned areas can often point out pitfalls that many would not have thought of unless they have previously been a victim. Most would agree, it is better to be prepared and avoid a security breach. If you think your team could benefit from this training, contact us at https://dfdrconsulting.com/contact-us/.