Despite being around for nearly three decades, phishing remains a persistent threat. Join us this Cybersecurity Awareness Month as we explore effective strategies for individuals and organizations to safeguard against phishing attacks.
What is Phishing?
Phishing involves cybercriminals posing as trusted entities to send fraudulent messages that contain malicious downloads or links. Successful phishing attacks can lead to compromised credentials, malware infections, data loss, and financial theft. It’s a prevalent form of social engineering and the costliest attack type in 2022, averaging $4.91 million per victim.
But that’s not all – attacks are becoming more sophisticated and spreading beyond emails to mobile devices and other forms of communication. In fact, 80% of phishing sites specifically target mobile devices or are designed to function on desktop and mobile, and the average person is 6-10x more likely to fall for a SMS phishing attack than an email-based attack.
How to Recognize and Avoid Phishing
The best defense is knowing the telltale signs of a phishing message. Unfortunately, with the rise of artificial intelligence, it’s no longer enough to look for misspelled words and grammar mistakes. Here are some key indicators:
How Organizations Can Reduce the Risk of Phishing Attacks
Here are a few ways organizations can reduce the risk of phishing attacks.
Security Awareness Training
By implementing a cybersecurity awareness program, organizations can inform and educate employees about the latest cyber threats. Some of the benefits include improved security, cyber risk visibility, and regulatory compliance. Check Point SmartAwareness prepares your employees for the most challenging threats with over 1,000 realistic phishing simulations and localized security awareness training.
Strengthen Email Security
Implement a modern email security solution capable of detecting malicious links, attachments, spam content, and language that could suggest a phishing attack. Your solution should be able to automatically block and quarantine suspicious emails and use sandboxing technology to analyze emails for malicious code.
Use Endpoint Monitoring and Protection
With the proliferation of cloud services and personal devices in the workplace, security teams should presume that some endpoints will be breached by endpoint attacks. It’s crucial to regularly monitor endpoints for security threats and implement rapid remediation and response on compromised devices.
Take Action and Report Phishing
If you receive a phishing email or text message, report it – the information you give helps fight cybercriminals.
How Check Point Can Help
Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration prevents sophisticated phishing and social engineering attacks from reaching your inbox. To learn more, schedule a demo.
From October 22-31, take 25% off all Check Point certification exams using the promo code Report Phishing.
 

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