Feature


Business Crime & Protection


email security Understanding


As a business owner or employee, the majority of communication will be done by email. And, for busy workers, it can be hard to keep on top of your inbox. All too often, it is easy to fall into the habit of ignoring email management. How many times have you failed to check the origin of an email before opening it? By ignoring the basic rules of email safety, you are at risk of phishing scams, viruses or hackers attempting to encrypt your data and hold it to ransom. Knowing what to look for and how to identify fake or phishing emails can however, keep IT systems safer. There are some very simple ways to identify rogue


emails. Any messages demanding the recipient to take ‘urgent’ action can usually, and should, be ignored. A common trick of email scammers is fooling a target into clicking a link by suggesting that if they don’t take action immediately, they could receive some sort of penalty, be it monetary or the threat of being locked out of software systems. However, the real penalty will come if you click the link, as these types of scams will require you to give up personal information, such as passwords to secure accounts. If an email contains a zip file or attachments that


have not been requested and is not clearly identifiable, be very cautious as it may contain a virus. An email may claim to be from a reputable company


but is littered with spelling and grammatical errors - in this case, it is almost certainly from a questionable source and not from the company it is claiming to represent. The sender’s email address can also be an obvious giveaway – if it is a different address from the business’ web address you can be sure it is fake. Another warning is that the email might be


addressed to ‘Dear Customer’, where the true company would always address the subject by name.


52 CHAMBERLINK March 2018 The same or very similar emails might be received


again and again, but with a few words altered each time or claiming to be from a different sender. However, many phishing scammers are becoming smarter and implementing better technology, which might make it very difficult to spot a real email from a fake one. Today, most reputable companies, such as banks and technology firms, employ task forces that can help identify and eliminate spam email so if you are ever in doubt, contact them directly. Do not, under any circumstance, forward a suspicious email as this can easily spread viruses. If an email is received apparently in error, question it. Contact the intended recipient to see if they were expecting the message and check if it is legitimate - simply forwarding the email could be the trigger that instructs the virus to attack the target computer systems. If the email offers something that seems to be too


good to be true, it probably is. Scammers will often try to trap targets into supplying personal information by asking them to enter competitions or claim a prize they have already won. However, it is the hacker who wins a prize, once they gain access to the target’s systems. Make sure all staff know how to spot a potentially


dangerous email. An easy way to filter out spam is to install spam filtering on company email accounts, and ensure all computers have up-to-date antivirus software and firewall systems in place. If a dangerous email or link is opened and an encryption virus attacks, unfortunately the only solution is to restore data and systems from a backup. Regularly backing up company data to a remote location is a vital component of staying safe online.


‘If the email offers something that seems to be too good to be true, it probably is’


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