Protect Your Email and Avoiding Phishing Scams
As email remains a primary business communication tool, robust antivirus software checking emails for malware is crucial. Don’t assume your phone is safe from malware; enable spam monitoring. Verify sender authenticity, especially for unusual topics or attachments. Never send sensitive information via email; secure alternatives exist. Be wary of cyber blackmail emails; report them to the FBI. Regularly clean out unneeded mail and attachments. Phishing attempts often use enticing but fake links; always check the link and sender’s email address and domain, especially for unfamiliar or foreign domains.
“I don’t know this person, and I can’t identify this person.” Common sense dictates to ignore them or scrutinize this unidentified entity. However, Cyber Criminals still communicate personalized attacked through e-mail. Over 150 billion e-mails were sent in 2018, thus making e-mail one of the most effective ways of contact. Businesses responds to hundreds of e-mails sent every day using the most affordable antivirus program around. The company employees rely on this software throughout the day. Never knowing the terrors, the antivirus software prevents while sleeping in the background.
How Antivirus Software Works
Everyone and their dogs know that a antivirus program cannot be a guaranteed fail-safe. The software uses an active blacklist to look for binary MAL codes or odd behaviors from a program. Users and other companies work together to report any incidents to prevent further attacks. The reports are gathered to form an update, thus creating a buffer effect. Buffer effects form through the time it takes for engineers to patch their software. When successful, the newly updated software creates a new signature to look for MAL or anomalies.
Prevent the Problem
Employees need to take action before a problem occurs. All employees need to install/link an antivirus to the e-mail service management. There is a difference between scanning e-mail through e-mail management software (e.g., Outlook) and internet security. Note, some antivirus products only scan messages sent or received using mail management software. Internet security software monitor online activities. On a side note, install one antivirus per device. Adding two only slows the electronic device down instead of protecting it. Phoning in If your device is electronic and can connect to the internet, that device can get a virus. Checking e-mail on the phone isn’t safe. Any code, regardless of the source, is moldable given the right requirements. To protect your devices/e-mails:
- Keep “Spam Monitoring” ON
- Double-check any e-mail from a friendly source
- Update antivirus software daily
- Get a Trustworthy VPN service
- Hover the mouse over the e-mail (don’t click anything!)
- Stop & Think!
- “Would I normally do this?”
Furthermore, do not:
- Open any attachments without scanning them
- Open anything from an unknown source
- Send any Social Security, Credit card, etc. over an e-mail
- Send over an open internet, regardless of the destination
Never send necessary information in an explicit e-mail. There are legitimate requests to pay this bill over e-mail; however, this is not a secure way to send credit card information. Decline any of those e-mails and pay the business through a different channel or use a Fax Machine. At the end of the day, if no one asked or you didn’t ask for something, please don’t open the document.
