Phishing Threats and Cybersecurity: How to Protect?

As Americans engage in major activities such as the 2024 presidential race, large-scale cultural festivals, and high-profile sporting events, cybersecurity will be on high alert.

Phishing attacks involve users through emails and messages in a somewhat deceiving way throughout the year.

These threats rise with notable events such as presidential campaigns, cultural festivals like music festivals or state fairs, major sporting events like the Olympics, and national celebrations like Independence Day.

Cybercriminals target such events, looking for vulnerabilities to steal sensitive information or spread malware. Individuals and organizations should always be prepared and establish appropriate and effective cybersecurity measures to protect against these threats and risks to personal and organizational data.

So, Boil it Down: What is a Phishing Attack?

A phishing attack is a type of cyber attack wherein cybercriminals attempt to obtain confidential information, such as passwords, credit card numbers, or other personal data, through likewise dangerous websites, emails, or text messages. Phishing attacks are usually used to either make money or get access to systems unauthorizedly.

Phishing Scenario:

Deceptive Communication: Most attackers send emails or messages that, until the reading of content, look as if it is from valid sources, like banks, government entities, or valid good-handed companies. Most of these forged messages have created alarming situations so that the target beneficiaries wouldn’t think again before moving forward.

False Pretenses: In a phishing message, one is asked or requested to provide sensitive information such as; login information, credit card information, and personal identification numbers, including PIN. Other times, it goes to an extent of having a link that leads to a replica of a real website.

Social Engineering: Phishing attacks leverage some form of social engineering tactics in manipulating individuals. They take advantage of the targeted person’s emotions to create scenarios in which people are too scared (e.g., threat to close your account), too curious (e.g. clicking to win a reward), or too trustworthy (maybe impersonating a close colleague or friend).

Consequences: If recipients fall for the phishing attempt and provide their information or click on malicious links, attackers can use this information for identity theft, financial fraud, or gain unauthorized access to sensitive accounts or networks.

Recent Cybersecurity Reports Underscore The Impact of phishing:

In the first quarter of 2024, more than 963 thousand unique phishing sites were detected worldwide.

As of the first quarter of 2024, Online Industries worldwide were most targeted by phishing attacks. In the first quarter of 2024, 37.6 percent of the phishing attacks globally were on social media. Web-based software services and webmail were second, with approximately 21 percent of the registered attacks. Besides, financial institutions recorded 9.8 percent of the attacks.

Poor password hygiene of employees was the top mistake leading to incidents.

Protecting Yourself from Phishing Attacks: Essential Strategies

Verify Sources: Be very sure about the authenticity of an email, message, or website before clicking through links or sharing any personal information. Check the sender’s email address for suspicious domain names or minor spelling errors. Hover over links to show the actual URL before clicking on them.

Enable Multifactor Authentication: Enabling two- or multifactor authentication can reduce and prevent falling into phishing attacks to a huge extent.

Double-Check Requests for Information: No legitimate organization will request sensitive information, like a password or other sensitive details such as social security number or credit card information over email.If in doubt, contact the organization directly using contact details from their official website.

Cybersecurity Software: Opting for a well-established and experienced cyber security software can help in the detection and blocking of such phishing attempts thereby keeping the company and its data secure.

SafeDNS specializes in robust cybersecurity software solutions, including the industry-leading Phising Threat Feed. Our long-standing and very effective software detects and blocks phishing attempts, combining advanced threat detection capabilities with proactive security measures.

Combined with the most up-to-date database of phishing threats, SafeDNS ensures that organizations can secure valuable data, surf the web confidently, and protect against rapidly changing cyber threats. With SafeDNS, businesses can significantly improve their cybersecurity posture, mitigating the risks associated with phishing attacks and creating a safer digital environment for their operations.

Employee Training: Regular training on secure data handling practices, what to look for in identifying phishing emails, a perfect security system on their devices, and similar measures can significantly lessen the possibility of becoming a victim of a phishing scheme.

Report Suspicious Activity: If you receive a phishing email, report it to your organization’s IT department or to the appropriate authority. This will help prevent others from falling victim to similar attacks.

IPv6 Email Infrastructure: An IPv6-based email infrastructure can also raise the security bar of email systems. Indeed, with improved encryption and a huge address space, IPv6 drastically reduces the risk of IP spoofing that phishers heavily rely on. In moving to the new protocol, organizations would expose phishers to enhanced security features and stronger authentication mechanisms, making it very hard to exploit vulnerabilities inherent in the older IPv4 systems.

Web Filtering: But there is a test-proven solution to phishing: web filtering. The beauty of this tool is that it significantly enhances protection against phishing that might otherwise bypass email filters.

The web filter ensures security during online browsing by continuously monitoring and blocking malicious sites. It also prevents accidental exposure to corrupt content. As such, it is one solid building block of comprehensive cybersecurity.

For example, having been used by more than 6 million users around the globe, SafeDNS filters out phishing sites 20% more effectively than other services. The benefits from filtering do not just end in email protection alone:

Blocks Newly Generated Phishing Links: SafeDNS can block new domains until they are verified, protecting users from the latest scams.

Provides Secure Communication: Web filtering isn’t limited to email protection. It also extends to messaging apps, corporate chat platforms, and other communication tools. These channels are increasingly targeted by cybercriminals for phishing attacks, as they can exploit vulnerabilities and user trust. By filtering and blocking suspicious links and malicious content in real-time, web filtering safeguards all forms of digital communication, ensuring that employees and users can interact securely without the risk of falling victim to phishing schemes.

• Enables Safe Surfing: A web filter prevents you from accidentally wandering into malicious territories while browsing the internet.
• Saves Internet Traffic: Filtering unwanted content from the internet, web filtering helps reduce your consumption of bandwidth, hence improving experience and efficiency when using the internet.
• Enhances Productivity: The installed web filter does not simply restrict access to certain types of resources. It helps employees remain productive and not sidetrack other websites like social media or streaming platforms.

Phishing attacks are a major concern, especially during culturally significant events. Cybercriminals exploit vulnerabilities with deceptive tactics to steal personal information or spread malware, posing significant risks to individuals and organizations.

Effective protection from phishing demands decent cybersecurity. This generally means verifying the authenticity of messages, using multifactor authentication,and utilizing advanced cybersecurity software like SafeDNS, which provides comprehensive protection against phishing threats.

These proactive steps ensure that digital interactions stay secure across the board, keeping the online scene safer in the face of evolving cyber threats.