February 2, 2023

Think before you click... - WST

Phishing emails are becoming more realistic, and it is important to know what to look for and to be on the lookout. Certain things to review in emails to confirm legitimacy can be:

  • Review sender information thoroughly in the header, as that can help provide a red flag that it is not a legit email. In other words, the boss isn’t going to email you from randoemailaddress@anflkwnero.ru.
  • Before clicking on any hyper-links within emails, be sure to hover over and check to see if the URL looks suspicious.
  • Do not open any attachments if not expected, especially zip files and macro enabled files, as they can contain hidden malicious code. If there is any question whether the attachments are legit or not, be sure to reach out to the contact directly by phone and ask them “Did you send this?”
  • Be careful when downloading any images within the email, as it’s possible, though very rare, that images could contain hidden malicious code.
  • When checking emails on a mobile device, be careful as it can be more difficult to review and confirm if the email is legit. If in question, hold off and review the email more thoroughly on desktop.

    • It’s good practice to send users periodic phishing test emails to help train on and reinforce good email handling practices. You can manually send these yourself, or there are various third-party providers that can help with this (we don’t have a favorite, most of them appear to be decent!). When testing, make sure to change up phishing test emails to give users a variety of what to look for when avoiding those phishing attempts .

    Authored by: Taylor Conder, Sec+

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