It’s December, so that means most people are getting into the Holiday spirit in many ways including sending and receiving holiday cards and invitations online. December is also a high Cyber-Criminals activity month, so with all of the emails you may see in your inbox this time of year it’s hard to know what is safe to open and what is not.
Business and consumer email phishing is at an all-time high. That being said, even if your company has a complex and sophisticated spam policy you may end up seeing phishing emails in your inbox. According to an article published on www.returnpath.com research found that 97% of people around the globe cannot identify a sophisticated phishing email, 30 percent of targeted recipients open phishing messages and 12 percent click on malicious email attachments.
A critical piece of an email security strategy is education and we thought it would be a good idea to share some of the key points of identifying phishing/malicious emails we came across online.
1. Don’t Trust the Display Name
It is very easy for cybercriminals to copy a brand or company in a display name. The email may appear legitimate because some inboxes only show the display name, check the email in the header before you open.
2. Look but Don’t Click
Hover your mouse over any links that may be in the email, this way you can check to see if the web address looks out of place in comparison to the content.
3. Check for Spelling Mistakes
Companies are pretty serious when it comes to this. Major spelling or grammatical errors is sure-fire way to determine if the email is malicious.
4. Don’t Click on Attachments
Fraudsters tend to include attachments with viruses and malware which can damage files on your computer. To be safe, don’t open attachments you weren’t expecting.
If you are interested in knowing more, check out the full article here. Have a safe and happy holiday season.
