According to a recent article in Security Magazine, 31% of organizations saw users fall for phishing attacks last year. One key reason is there are more than double the number of remote users today than before the pandemic lockdowns. Organizations have had trouble monitoring the massive numbers of remote and work-from-home employees.
Recently, five cybersecurity trends were discovered that continually impact organizations. Social engineering, specifically phishing attacks, remain at the top of the list for significant threats. User privacy, or personal data collected without the user’s permission, can potentially also be gathered and compromised in other ways. Combining various attacks is another tactic used to target a workforce spread across massive geographical areas to gain unauthorized access to services and resources. Other trends include approaches to compliance and workforce distribution.
Hikvision knows the importance of staying safe and knowledgeable when it comes to phishing attacks. Here are three types of phishing tactics that we’ve identified so you can better spot them:
- URL Masking: This is a basic tactic that is the cornerstone of more advanced tactics. The main tip in finding phishing links is to hover over links to see their exact URL before you click on them. Be sure to read the entire URL address, and don’t click if it seems suspicious.
- Advanced URL Masking: Unfortunately, there are ways to “click-jack” URLs to show a link when you hover over it. These links actually take you somewhere else once you click.
- Unicode Domains: This is another tactic to use character sets that look similar to English/Latin characters, but are not.
These tactics can be scary to think about, but being cautious of new or unusual emails is a great way to find phishing attacks. Look carefully at email headers and approach unusual messages with suspicion.
For more tips and tricks on keeping your organization safe, visit our online cybersecurity center to find a plethora of resources available for free.