Phishing – what is it and why is Phishing becoming a frequent occurrence
What is Phishing?
Phishing is a cybercrime in which a target or targets are contacted by email, telephone or text message by someone posing as a legitimate institution to lure individuals into providing sensitive data such as personally identifiable information, banking and credit card details, and passwords.
The information is then used to access important accounts and can result in identity theft and financial loss. Phishing is considered a social engineering attack because it happens via an open communication channel.
Why is Phishing becoming a frequent occurrence?
Hybrid workforce:
In 2020 the daily life of all people around the globe changed drastically. Lockdowns took a drastic toll on everyone and every business, but it was cybercriminals’ time to shine. While business could continue operations remotely, it created opportunities for the scattered workforce and mobile endpoints to become vulnerable. These vulnerabilities became more visible to hackers, who quickly exploited them through phishing attacks.
Organisational oversights:
In efforts to stay afloat amid the global crisis, many businesses completely disregarded cybersecurity. The rush to remote work meant that people were concerned about getting their staff operational and forgot about their security in the process.
This resulted in insufficient spending on security tools, lack of employee training and much more. People got used to working on their personal devices from unprotected networks. Such mistakes opened the door for cybercriminals.
Constantly evolving cybercriminals:
Any business should keep in mind that hackers are constantly busy uncovering and exploiting flaws in the business IT Infrastructure. They’re continually shifting their strategy, so you’re practically defending against a moving attacker.
Threat actors have recently targeted businesses via the website contact form, pretending to be legal authorities, saying that the company is not complying with the law and asking the organisation to download a “report.” A security-first posture is a must for a business to avoid such tactics.
Cheap phishing tools:
Low-cost phishing tools are available all over the dark web. These tools allow even non-technical individuals to become hackers. Lists of emails can be purchased online, then a hacker will craft their own messages and send thousands of emails scams at a time.
Contact us today (Contact Us | SybaWeb) to talk to our specialists. We’ll seek to understand your concerns, identify your vulnerabilities and propose solutions to improve your security.