Phishing attacks have been a constant concern among users and companies on the internet for a long time. For this reason, some tools have been developed and improved in order to guarantee greater protection of the data of individuals and corporate internet users.
Basically, a phishing attack involves three essential factors:
- Choice of type of communication: which can be email, telephone, SMS services, copies of legitimate websites, false advertising, among others;
- Disguise : the cybercriminal seeks to impersonate an institution, company or contact the victim trusts;
- Scam : through social engineering, he manages to deceive the victim and obtain confidential data such as documents, credit card numbers and other information.
In this way, we can see that, regardless of the means used, the objective of the phishing scam is basically the same: to obtain data fraudulently in order to favor other types of scams , such as financial fraud and credit card cloning. .
The growth of social networks has allowed criminals to gather even more information about their victims. Through these platforms, they can find out the victim's full name, birthday, family members, frequent contacts, places where the victim frequents, the company where they work and much more.
The dangers of Social Engineering
Social engineering is a set of practices and techniques used to deceive and persuade a victim . With the help of this tool, cybercriminals can obtain access data or confidential information more easily, using human vulnerability to do so.
A social engineer is a figure who has great communication skills, an aptitude for persuasion and self-confidence. Advantages that can be used to obtain information and favor traps.
This feature is essential for a phishing scam to be successful. This is because the more realistic or persuasive the content of a fake email , for example, the easier it will be to get the victim to access a malicious link or download a file onto their computer. But how does this work in practice? Watch this video and better understand how social engineering can be used: Social engineering, the art of deception!
Hackers who specialize in social engineering are able to use human emotions such as curiosity, fear and insecurity to manipulate their victims and achieve their goals.
Contrary to popular belief, social engineering is not a resource used only for phishing scams. There are other attacks that can be favored with this strategy , as we will see below.
Baiting
In this type of scam, the hacker uses a false promise to arouse the user's interest or curiosity. This way, it can effortlessly collect your data and encourage other types of scams.
Quid pro quo
In this case, the attacks are based on overconfidence , that is: there is a certain exchange of information so that the relationship appears to be fair to the user. This type of scam is common to be applied to users who need technical support, for example.
The trap causes him to provide login information, but ends up handing over control of his computer to the cybercriminal.
Vishing
Vishing is similar to a phishing attack, but instead of using fake emails or websites, the hacker uses phone calls to trick his victim and collect confidential information.
Scareware
This type of scam is very common and you have probably experienced it. The victim begins to receive SOS messages, alarms and threat notifications, which are created to make the user think that they are experiencing a cyber attack or that they are infected with a virus or malware.
This way, he ends up installing software to solve the problem, but this file is the real trap. See some examples below:
How can this trap harm your business?
It is common to think of phishing as a threat to individual users, but it is important to remember that within a company, using the organization's working hours and computers, employees can also be victims of scams.
When the victim does not realize that they are facing a trap or fraud, they may provide personal data, confidential company information or encourage financial scams. For example: through a phishing scam , the hacker is able to access the company's computers and carry out a scam known as ransomware .
Through this scam, he can steal information, corrupt data and make systems completely unavailable, damaging the profitability of the business. From there, he can request the payment of a ransom to return this information or restore the company's systems. All of this, in addition to causing the unavailability of services provided by the business , also causes major financial losses.
Among the main consequences of phishing for companies, we can mention:
- Contamination of computers by malware that can damage data and corrupt networks ;
- Transform company computers into bots (“zombie” computers used in DDoS-type attacks );
- SPAM shooting;
- Damage to the company's image in the market and relationships with customers;
- Account hacking;
- Access to cloud services ;
- Financial scams;
- And many others.
What are the best phishing protection tools?
1. Safe Internet Use Policy
Before thinking about an anti-phishing tool or resource that helps protect itself, the company needs to have an Internet Usage Policy that ensures that users know how to deal with and avoid threats in the online environment.
This policy helps raise awareness among your employees about internet use and the good practices that should be applied during their day. Black Friday approaching , this awareness becomes even more important. Cybercriminals use this date to plant increasingly efficient traps and collect information fraudulently .
2. Enterprise Firewall
Today, there are several software and tools aimed at protecting against cyber threats. These systems block dangerous content on the corporate internet, helping to reduce the incidence of fraud and scams arising from this channel.
3. Antivirus and Antimalware
These tools help block malicious files that arrive through various channels, such as emails, downloads of malicious pages, among others. Having these features can help block dangerous files that can be sent through phishing emails.
4. Password Manager
The password manager is an encrypted database that helps you store a large amount of passwords safely and conveniently. To facilitate the process, the user uses a unique password, avoiding the need to reset passwords, a trap often used by cybercriminals.
5. Employee training
One of the most efficient ways to protect your company from the threats of phishing scams is through an employee training process. It is essential that everyone involved understands the importance of using the company's internet with intelligence and wisdom.
The security problems created by phishing scams come from the naivety or unpreparedness of users, so training takes on a prominent role in the fight against this dangerous threat.
6. Website Blocking Tool
In addition to the internet usage policy, the company can use an internet site blocking tool to ensure that the main threats do not reach its employees.
Through it, it is possible to manage access patterns to content that pose a risk to information security within the company , such as entertainment websites, e-commerce sites, social networks and personal emails.
Discover Lumiun Box
Lumiun Lumiun Box is a tool aimed at small and medium-sized companies, which controls internet access, blocking websites and connections and preventing phishing attacks . With the help of Lumiun Box , it is possible to prevent attacks on the company's network and also improve team productivity, managing access considered harmful and outside the scope of work .
With an intuitive and easy-to-use tool, the company is able to guarantee consolidated information on internet use during working hours.
In addition to access management, Lumiun Box delivers reports with the most accessed websites, times, categories, users and much more. It can also help create an internet access policy with personalized rules , based on the data collected.
Do you want to know more about this anti-phishing tool? Click here and discover everything it can do for you!
