Best Tips for Staying Safe From Phishing Scams

The number of cyberattacks is increasing every year even after so many changes being made regarding regulatory compliance and the way websites store the data of their visitors and customers. In the year 2018, more than 62% of the businesses out there faced different types of phishing and social engineering scams and this number kept on increasing in the upcoming years. Well, there is no denial in the fact that the arrival of the pandemic has made it necessary for each and everybody to move to the online platform but at the same time, everyone has to stay safe from the different types of tactics used by online criminals, especially phishing scams.

There are surely many different ways online criminals target businesses and people but the most common one among them is phishing scams. In the year 2019, more than 88% of firms from all around the world experienced phishing scams and this is a huge number. You should know that the resilience to this type of fraud depends on how it is basically based not on the loopholes of the software solutions but the loopholes in human beings.

This is why, in this blog post, we will look at some of the best tips for keeping yourself safe from each and every type of phishing scam lurking out there on the online platform.

Use of two-factor authentication system

If you are really serious about keeping yourself and your business safe from each and every type of phishing scam out there then you will need to start using two-factor authentication. You should know that in two-factor authentication, you will be asked to enter an OTP sent to your registered mobile number after entering the password and user name. This way, you will make sure that you are safe even when the hackers get their hands on your password. There is no way a hacker can get his hands on the OTP sent to your registered mobile number.

Check your email with caution

Another important thing that you will need to keep in mind is checking all the emails that you receive with caution instead of clicking on them with a blindfold. You will need to be wary of all the emails that you receive in your inbox from an unrecognized sender. In addition to this, you will also need to directly mark all those emails as spam that will ask you to enter your financial and other banking information in the first place. Online criminals basically create a sense of urgency through their phishing scam and you should not fall into such traps.

Educate your employees

If you are running a business and if you don’t want any type of phishing scam to ruin the security measures of your firm then you will need to educate your employees about each and every possible type of phishing scam, just like you educate them about Best QuickBooks enterprise hosting. You can organize regular training programs for all your employees and educate them about how to differentiate between a genuine email and a phishing scam. You should know that your own employees can cause your data fortress to collapse and that’s why educating them is necessary.

Improve the security of your computer

The type of security layer you will have on your computer will play the main role in deciding whether you will be successful in your phishing scam strategy or not. Most of the criminals are able to target businesses and individuals through phishing scams because of an unsafe computer. This is why you will need to make sure that the computer you are using for accessing emails is well protected with a good antivirus. A good antivirus will block all such attempts by hackers.

Don’t fall in the language trap

One of the most important things to know about phishing is it has no boundaries and that’s why it can come in each and every type of form you can think of. This is one of the main reasons why a phishing scam can come to you in any language. In most of the cases, they are not well written or translated and this might act as a strong indicator that there is something wrong. If you have never visited the German website of your bank then why will you receive an email from the bank in the German language? This is just a common sense that many people lack and that’s why they fall into the trap.

Stay informed about new phishing techniques

Hackers are smarter than your expectation and this is why they keep on coming with new phishing techniques in order to target individuals and businesses. So, what you can do is keep yourself updated about the latest phishing techniques that are being used by criminals. Well, the best way to do it will be to keep reading blogs related to cyber security as there are many websites that regularly post blogs and articles regarding the trending techniques being used by criminals on the digital platform.

Use an anti-phishing toolbar

Most of the browsers that are popular can be easily customized with different types of anti-phishing toolbars and you will need to use this feature of browsers out there in order to stay secure from phishing attacks. These toolbars usually conduct a quick check on the websites that you are visiting and then these websites are compared with the list of phishing websites. If you will visit a malicious website then the toolbar will immediately inform you about it and this is why these toolbars can act as the best layer of security against phishing attacks.

You can’t just stop using the internet and stop opening your emails because of cyber attacks. What you will need to do is to have better security measures against each and every type of cyber attacks like a phishing scam. Use this blog post as your guide for staying safe from all the possible phishing scams being used on the online platform and keep the criminals at bay.