Phishing Attacks Are Evolving: Here’s How to Spot & Avoid Them

Small businesses are facing an increasing range of cybersecurity threats, and among the most common and damaging are phishing attacks. Phishing is when cyber attackers pretend to be legitimate entities in an attempt to get individuals to reveal confidential information like passwords, credit card numbers, and login credentials. What was once a simple email scam, phishing has evolved into a much more sophisticated and multilateral threat, which can now focus on individuals, employees, and even organizations as a whole.

As a small business owner, it is important to know how phishing attacks have become more sophisticated and how to identify them in order to keep your company safe and your valuable information secure.

Why Phishing Is a Threat to Small Businesses

Small businesses are especially susceptible to phishing attacks due to the fact that they do not have the same level of robust cybersecurity infrastructure as larger organizations. Small businesses, in fact, are targeted by 43% of all cyberattacks. Since phishing is one of the most prevalent forms of attack, it’s important to be proactive about protecting your business.

The consequences of being a victim of a phishing attack can be disastrous. It may lead to a massive data breach, loss of money, or reputational damages. Most small businesses have no idea what the possible risk of phishing could be until it is too late. Therefore, it’s important to understand how phishing attacks work and identify them before they do harm.

How Phishing Attacks Have Evolved

1. Phishing attacks have increasingly become sophisticated over time. The cybercrime community is no longer employing basic emails full of generic threats or win prizes promotions. Phishing attacks now include sophisticated techniques such as social engineering to deceive victims. Below are some ways phishing attacks have evolved:
2. Spear Phishing: Spear phishing differs from the traditional phishing attack, which goes to a large group. Spear phishing is a targeted approach. Cybercriminals gather particular information about their victims so that they can compose highly authentic emails appearing to come from known sources like colleagues, vendors, or even the CEO. Because of the level of customization, spear phishing is more difficult to detect and avoid.
3. Clone Phishing: The hackers create exact replicas of usual emails that the victim has received in the past with clone phishing. They send the email, altering it slightly by replacing safe links or documents with harmful ones. Because the email is familiar, the victim is more likely to be trusting and act on it.
4. Smishing (SMS Phishing): While phishing has been happening over email for many years, smishing takes advantage of text messages (SMS) to trick individuals into opening destructive links or giving away personal information. With growing numbers of individuals using smartphones for work purposes, smishing is becoming a rising threat.
5. Vishing (Voice Phishing): Vishing is an attack in which the attackers masquerade as authentic institutions, such as banks or government offices, over the telephone. They commonly use caller ID spoofing in a way that makes the victim believe the call is coming from a known party. The attacker tries to convince the victim to provide sensitive details over the phone.
6. Whaling: Whaling is a spear phishing variation launched against high-ranking employees of an organization, i.e., senior managers or top executives. The attacker may impersonate a top executive or a reputable business partner to give the attack a more legitimate appearance.

How to Spot Phishing Attacks

It is important for small business owners and employees to recognize phishing attempts. The more familiar you are with the indicators of phishing, the less opportunity you will have to fall victim to the attacks. Some of the warning signs that follow are what you should be aware of:

1. Suspicious Sender Addresses: Phishing emails usually come from email addresses that closely resemble the actual addresses, but with minor variations. For example, an email may appear to be from your bank but is actually sent from a misspelled domain of theirs. Always check the sender’s address.
2. Generic Greetings: Most of the phishing messages use generic greetings like “Dear User” or “Dear Customer” as against greeting you personally. Reputable businesses use personalized greetings in most cases, so if the message looks generic, beware.
3. Urgent or Threatening Tone: Phishing emails try to make you feel hurried, telling you that your account has been compromised or that you need to do something quickly so that something bad does not occur. Cybercriminals use this tactic to get you to act instinctively. If an email seems too urgent, take a step back and verify if it is real.
4. Suspicious Links or Attachments: One of the most common ways attackers spread malware is by including malicious links or attachments in phishing emails. If you’re unsure whether a link is legitimate, hover over it to see where it leads. If the URL looks suspicious, don’t click it.
5. Poor Grammar and Spelling: Phishing emails are likely to contain spelling mistakes, unnatural sentences, or odd format. Reputable companies may sometimes misspell a word, but repeated misspelling is a red flag for phishing.
6. Unnatural Requests for Personal Information: Reputable companies will rarely ask for sensitive information such as login credentials or financial information via email. If an email is asking for this type of information, it’s likely to be phishing.

How to Protect Your Small Business from Phishing Attacks

Although it is crucial to identify phishing attempts, prevention is the best method to protect your business. Some of the best practices for preventing phishing attacks are listed below:

1. Train Your Employees: Train your employees periodically on phishing threats and how to recognize them. Ensure they know what to do if they receive a suspicious email or text message. The more trained your team is, the less susceptible they will be to phishing attempts.
2. Implement Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Incorporating MFA adds an extra layer of security to your accounts. Even if a cyberattacker is able to obtain login credentials through phishing, MFA makes it harder for them to gain access to sensitive data.
3. Implement Email Filtering: Most modern email security products have phishing detection features integrated into them that can automatically filter out suspicious emails and block them. Use these features to prevent phishing emails from reaching your inbox in the first place.
4. Verify Sensitive Data Requests: If you receive an email asking for sensitive information, always verify it through other sources. Never reply to the email or click on any links. Verify the authenticity of the request by using known modes of contact.
5. Keep Your Software Updated: Ensure that your operating system, antivirus software, and web browsers are updated. These updates often include important security patches that help to defend against phishing and other cyber attacks.

Conclusion

Phishing attacks are increasingly complex, and small businesses must remain on their toes in order to defend against them. By knowing what types of phishing attacks exist and how to spot them, you can protect your business and confidential information. Small business cybersecurity is everyone’s job—do your part by informing your staff, implementing protections for your business, and keeping up to date with the most recent security news. Being proactive and taking these steps will greatly minimize your chances of becoming a victim of phishing scams and ensure the future of your company.