Phishing has reached new heights. According to the latest report published by the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG), the first quarter of 2022 was the worst quarter for phishing attacks that the organization has ever seen, with the total of attacks observed topping one million for the first time!
Source: Phishing Activity Trends Report, 1st Quarter 2022
At DI, we are noticing an exponential rise in this method of attack. Not only are we seeing a rise in the number of attempts to phish you, but hackers are getting better and better with their deception. For example, take a look at two attempts that were sent to my personal wireless phone.
Here’s What You Can Do About It:
- Be careful and diligent when you receive any unsolicited requests. Our recommended response to anything “phishy”, is to avoid (do not click) the link or path that’s provided in the note. If you think the request might be legitimate, then use your browser and go directly to the site and logon on to review your correspondence from the vendor.
- If the phishing email comes to your work email address, report it to your IT team. If your organization doesn’t have a clear and easy process to report phishing emails, talk to your IT manager about creating one. Advanced spam filters learn from phishing emails, so reporting them lowers the chances of a similar phish making it to your inbox in the future.
- If you identify phishing emails in your personal email address, you can go the extra mile and block the sending address from your email account. Below you can find instructions for some of the most popular email platforms.
- How to block a sender on Outlook.
- How to block a sender on Gmail.
- How to block a sender on the Mail app for Mac computers.
- How to block a sender on Yahoo! Mail
- Stay vigilant at home. Basic cybersecurity best practices, including regularly updating your devices, should become a part of your routine. This is essential to ensure your home network and devices are protected. And don’t forget to update your phone–4 out of 10 emails are opened through mobile applications!
- Share the knowledge. Educate those around you on phishing best practices. There are free interactive resources that teach people of all ages how to spot a phishing email. A great example is Google’s Phishing Quiz, “Can you spot a phish?”. This is an easy way to better protect your family against the ever-growing threat of cybercrime.
