pctechguide.com

  • Home
  • Guides
  • Tutorials
  • Articles
  • Reviews
  • Glossary
  • Contact

What is Spear Phishing? Everything You Need to Know

Last summer, CSO published a very insightful article on the concept of spear phishing. This is a problem that even many experienced cybersecurity experts are still getting used to.

Cybersecurity is becoming an increasingly important aspect of running an everyday business. Recent trends indicate a huge increase in hacked and breached data from sources like mobile and IoT devices, both of which are highly common in the workplace.

Studies show that 65% of hackers use spear-phishing as the primary method of breaching consumer data. In order to maximize your protection against these groups, it is important to be informed on what spear phishing is and how you can recognize the signs, including how you can avoid being duped by these types of attacks.

In this blog, we’re covering what is spear phishing, preventative measures, shocking statistics, and more. Here’s everything you need to know about this common hacker tactic.

Spear Phishing vs. Phishing

Spear phishing is like phishing. It is a type of scam that is designed to dupe recipients into unwittingly handing over valuable information that would otherwise be kept confidential. This information can include anything from account credentials to customer lists. Some examples of spear phishing or phishing attempts include:

  • Links (change your password, click for discount, etc.)
  • Attachments
  • Impersonations of someone the recipient knows
  • Requests for sensitive data

If the user were to click a link or download an attachment that contains harmful malware, they would risk exposing their computer system to the harmful virus sent by the attacker. Hackers use this information to access the victim’s data on their server or local node.

So, how does spear phishing differ from traditional phishing attacks? Hackers send phishing emails to countless recipients. These emails are mostly sent at random. The vast majority of recipients won’t reply, but hackers know that they can orchestrate a successful attack if they view it as a numbers game. On the other hand, spear phishing emails are more targeted, designed to get a single recipient to respond or interact. Hackers use social media to target and mimic the identity of a single individual within the organization.

Some public information that an attacker may use to try and trick someone with a spear phishing scam include:

  • Recipient’s specialty
  • Role in an organization
  • Interests
  • Place of residence
  • Taxpayer identifying number and other documents
  • Public social media information
  • Name

How to Protect Against Spear Phishing

Anyone can be a victim this heinous attack. Because of their personalized nature, it sometimes may be difficult to determine whether an email is legitimate or a scam. Here are a few ways you can ensure your computer system is secure:

  • Keep your systems up-to-date with the latest security patches
  • Encrypt any sensitive company information you have: This includes every local drives, data that is stored on the cloud, questions to reset passwords, passwords, internet history (it is always a good idea to use a VPN or mask the real IP address), all external storage drives, and of course all important files
  • Implement multi-factor authentication wherever possible: Requires two pieces of identification such as a password and email to ensure the user is legitimate.
  • Educate yourself and your company on spear phishing tactics and how to stay protected.
  • Make sure the source is legitimate: Before interacting with a suspicious email, look up the address, sender name, and other information provided.

If you are looking to protect data on a larger scale, such as within a company, there are several different email protection solutions that you should consider implementing. Here are a few:

  • Proofpoint Essentials: Market-leading email security gateway and the world’s largest email security vendor.
  • Mimecast Secure Email Gateway: One of the most fully-featured email security gateways. Mimecast is one of the leading vendors in terms of threat research.
  • Barracuda Essentials: Feature-rich email security system without breaking the bank.
  • IRONSCALES: Provides fast, powerful protection against threats within the email inbox. Uses AI security tools, to identify malicious emails and remove them from users’ inboxes automatically.
  • Cisco Cloud Email Security: Massive research team searching for email threats offers a strong defense against business email phishing attacks.
  • Hornetsecurity: Offers strong spam filtering effectiveness and is easy to use, prioritizing fast email processing.
  • Sophos Email Security: Email security powered by cutting edge technology that has a focus on threat protection.
  • Microsoft Advanced Threat Protection: Works natively with Office 365, offering a range of features including enforcing anti-phishing policies and anti-malware protection.
  • Forcepoint Email Security: Offers businesses strong threat protection and has a range of features for protection such as real time threat detection, powered by machine learning.
  • SpamTitan: Email security solution that blocks email threats from reaching user inboxes, primarily targeted towards businesses, schools, and colleges.
  • Symantec Email Security Gateway Cloud:  Features threat isolation and real-time threat protection, spam filtering, and detailed reporting on the types of threats that face your business.

Spear phishing and phishing aren’t the only threats to your company security. The internet continues to grow daily, and with it so does threats. Stay informed on other ways to keep your company secure from online hackers. Ensure your employee and company information remain safe from the wrong hands.

Filed Under: Communications

Latest Articles

Linux Commands for Navigating and Viewing Directories

Linux has hundreds of commands available, but to get around the system, view and edit text files we only need a handful. We'll take a look here at the basic commands that are essential in setting up the dedicated server (download a free copy of Linux to test drive it). Notice the convention of the … [Read More...]

How to Remove Avast Enhanced Protection Mode

Easiest Removal Option: Remote Repair: Paying an expert to remove this threat is always the easiest option. It's also the most expensive. PCTechGuide.com has reviewed several remote computer repair companies and we recommend PC Ninja This is a small computer repair company (Two brick and … [Read More...]

Wires-Only ADSL – Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line

Wires-only was one of the first of many BT initiatives during 2002 designed to kickstart the adoption of broadband, appearing on a wholesale basis at the start of the year and reaching consumers via ISPs over the following months. Also referred to as self-install - because there is no need … [Read More...]

Tips on How to Land a Remote Job in Cyber Security

The demand for skilled cyber security professionals is growing as well as a number of threats and risks. Any company needs an expert or team to … [Read More...]

Video Tutorials for Anyone Wanting to Learn About Big Data

Did you know that we create about 2.5 quintillion bytes of data every single day? There is no denying the fact that big data is changing our world in … [Read More...]

Video Tutorials to Help Canva Users Shorten their Learning Curve

Canva is a very popular design software that is used by over 55 million designers. It is a robust application, but it can be tricky for beginners to … [Read More...]

Great Videos to Learn About Cricut Design Space

Cricut Design Space is one of the best digital design applications for people trying to create projects for Cricut projects. You can create a lot of … [Read More...]

Great Videos on Dangerous Computer Viruses

Computer viruses are obnoxious programs that can wreak havoc on even the most sophisticated machines. The good news is that people will be better … [Read More...]

Best Creative Commons Videos on Learning Adobe Illustrator

Adobe Illustrator is one of the most popular design tools available. The tool has been around since 1987 and is used by over 90% of the world's … [Read More...]

Guides

  • Computer Communications
  • Mobile Computing
  • PC Components
  • PC Data Storage
  • PC Input-Output
  • PC Multimedia
  • Processors (CPUs)

Recent Posts

Switch & Sync Software Review

PROS: Switch & Sync is one of the easiest products to use in the synchronization area. CONS: Wireless users will not be able to use this … [Read More...]

WinXP Driver Installation

Windows XP Setup will have attempted to load drivers for the hardware it recognised. However, there is no guarantee that the default drivers loaded … [Read More...]

Advances in Big Data Drive Demand for SQL and Data Programmers

The online programming industry is lucrative and growing rapidly. In the United States, programmers ear over $100,000 a year. Qualified experts are so … [Read More...]

[footer_backtotop]

Copyright © 2022 About | Privacy | Contact Information | Wrtie For Us | Disclaimer | Copyright License | Authors