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CYBER CRIME


CYBERCRIME AT WORK WHO IS MOST AT RISK?


Reboot Digital Marketing Agency analysed ProofPoint’s report


‘Protecting the People: A quarterly analysis of highly targeted cyber attacks’, focussing on types of departments at work most targeted by phishing


P


hishing is a type of cyber-crime that involves deceiving the user into thinking they are


communicating with a legitimate company, in order to steal confidential information and passwords. By its nature, phishing and malware attacks work by impersonating someone the recipient knows and trusts. 70% of internet users use the same password for almost all the web services they use. (Source: Sophos). It therefore comes as no surprise that phishing is such a popular and effective tool for cyber-criminals against their victims, allowing them to assume control of all accounts – whether it be social media or online banking. Predictably, as a group of individuals


within departments, ‘lower-level employees’, such as customer service representatives, were subject to 67% of highly targeted attacks, with those in marketing, public relations and human resources accounting for nearly 20% of all phishing and malware attacks. However, given that upper


management accounts for a smaller proportion of businesses, the report suggests that those in C-level positions, directors and department managers may be targeted disproportionately more often.


Reboot Digital Marketing Agency offers five top tips for avoiding malware and phishing scams at work:


• Know what to look for Pay close attention to attachments, advertisements and pop-up alerts, ensuring you only open what you trust. Train users to spot malicious emails and websites by knowing what to look out for.


• Avoid unsolicited links and attachments Most commonly, you should know the sender of an email and trust the source it is coming from. If unsure, go with the assumption that it is best to avoid opening emails from an unknown source/sender altogether. And although a lot of companies employ malware scanning features, you shouldn’t be solely reliant on this.


• Turn off email HTML Adding HTML can sometimes automatically run malware scripts within an email once it has been opened. For this reason, you may choose to disable it, lowering the risk of an attack.


• Scan external drives Many USB and external hard-drives can hold malware and spread across the workplace onto other computers. To be extra vigilant, it is recommended that you scan all external devices with anti- virus software each time you connect an external portal to a computer.


• Regularly change your password Though this may seem obvious, it is easy to forget to regularly update your passwords or be reluctant to do so in fear of forgetting them. However, for security purposes it is good practice to change your passwords every 90 days.


On average over a three-month period, employees at an organisation most likely to suffer a cyber-attack:


• 67% of all highly targeted attacks are carried out against ‘Lower-level employees’ such as customer service representatives.


• Employees in public relations, marketing and human resource positions make up nearly 20% of all phishing and malware attacks.


• ‘Management’ and ‘Upper Management’ positions were found to represent 27% of the most targeted employees.


• Pharmaceutical drug manufacturers’ is the most highly targeted industry, with 71 attacks per company.


• Construction receives 61 attacks per company.


‘LOWER-LEVEL EMPLOYEES’, SUCH AS CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVES, WERE SUBJECT TO 67% OF HIGHLY TARGETED ATTACKS


www.smeweb.com


• ‘Real estate’ receives an average of 54 attacks.


• ‘Contributors’ make up 40% of the most targeted employees within an organisation.


SME MAGAZINE


23


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