Everyone at your workplace has most likely been warned about accessing suspicious emails. If, by chance, you click on one of the links in those suspicious emails, it can make your company’s network accessible, which can lead to a breach or some type of network attack. These attacks are referred to as phishing and they often work as intended. When someone sends you an email, it may come with a link that can compromise your organization, even if any level of employee clicks on it or provides sensitive information. Even when everyone is aware of these malicious links, how do phishers manage to lure people in? Here are some common tactics that experts at companies like Elijaht.com look for:
- The email sent to you seems like it’s coming from a genuine source
Most employees will pay keen attention to their email, especially when their boss sends them a message. That’s why it is a common phishing attack to send an email as though it has been sent from your boss, colleagues, or a company that you are dealing with. It could be an invitation to a meeting online, or to sign in to your Google account. Doing so lets hackers access your Google account. Ensure that the email is really from a bona fide source before you click on a link or share any info with someone.
- The email sounds urgent
One way to lure people in is to make the offers last for a limited time only. This should always make you think carefully before doing anything. Merely receiving a URL from your boss with an urgent deadline may lure you into clicking first and thinking later. A warning that says that immediate action is needed may override your sense of right and wrong. Hence, it is always considered a safe practice to think carefully before you act on anything online, regardless of how urgent it seems.
- It’s free of cost
If someone offers you something, you may feel the need to return something back. A hacker may send you a gift code for something or an audio file or a coupon and ask you to click the link in order to gain it and perhaps answer a small survey. This is probably the easiest way to get hacked, especially since it is so easy to get deeply delved into your work and respond to an email in haste. Phishers tend to rely on that, so be wary of such cases. Your boss doesn’t mind waiting a tad bit longer for you to respond if it means not have to call an IT team to look after a data breach.
