When executing phishing scams, hackers use what seems like legitimate content – email messages, social media posts, websites, and more – to manipulate users into clicking links or providing personal information. Then, attackers use said information or access to steal data and assets. Companies are exposed to these attacks when employees and customers are targeted and fall prey. Just recently, federal agencies were under such attacks, and companies using Microsoft Office 365 have been exposed to phishing attacks as well.
The potential business damage caused by phishing attacks is significant and even small businesses can suffer $100,000 worth of damages from a single fraudulent act. Companies are often unable to operate when hackers prevent access to their own database; funds can be stolen from their accounts; if their users are exposed, they are at risk of suffering legal and PR damage, and more. As Information Security expert Stephane Nappo put it, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and a few minutes of cyber-incident to ruin it.”
Why your Cybersecurity team should care about phishing & anti-phishing solutions
As the custodians of a company’s security, anti-phishing solutions should be a focal point for the team for the following reasons:
- The diminishing perimeter: Phishing attacks target employees’ social media profiles and the websites they visited for both business and personal purposes. Gone are the days when security teams could consider any part of employees’ online behavior to be safe or irrelevant. This is especially true as working from home becomes the norm for many businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic or regardless of the current global crisis.
- Time to step it up: Scammers never rest and continue to learn and improve in order to become more sophisticated and dangerous. Their phishing capabilities push the company’s security team to become proactive and do more than gather threat intelligence. Otherwise, their business is a sitting duck, likely to get hit by one of the most common cyber threats around.
- Employee education is not enough: While it remains important to explain to workers the importance of protecting your password and avoiding suspicious content, anti-phishing solutions are the only way to truly protect the business. Many employees are not tech-savvy enough and the company is only as protected as its weakest link.
Why your legal team should care about phishing & anti-phishing solutions
Companies’ Legal Counsel may not be the first to come to mind when thinking about security threats, but the legal implications of a phishing attack should place these security issues high on their list of priorities.
- The legal cost: In addition to possible lawsuits from consumers and business partners, companies that suffer a data breach are also exposed to fines by local authorities. EasyJet, for example, was fined a record £183 million following a major breach that occurred in 2018. We will shortly learn how much their most recent breach of May 2020 will cost them. In 2019, brokerage firm Philips Capital was hit with a $500,000 penalty after an IT engineer at the firm fell for a phishing mail from a hacked account.
- Data-focused legislation: Protecting users’ personal data has become the latest trend in regulation, with HIPAA, GDPR, PII, and other laws coming into effect. A phishing scam may lead to a breach that will be considered a violation of these standards, which can cost companies an average of $174 million per day. The maximum fine for GDPR violations, for instance, can reach 4% of the company’s overall annual turnover.
Why your marketing team should care about phishing & anti-phishing solutions
Phishing attacks often make the news and can create a PR crisis for your marketing team to handle. When 88% of customers research online before making a purchase, marketers simply cannot risk having a simple Google search lead to an article discussing phishing scams your team has fallen victim to.
In addition, phishing scams eat up marketing budgets. Imagine common scenarios where you are spending thousands or millions of dollars on advertising, only for prospects to be diverted to impersonated social media pages and fake eCommerce sites.
Technology writer Kevin Casey once said that “Phishing attacks will persist because they work”. To stay protected, companies need anti-phishing solutions that work harder and better. Both stakeholders mentioned in this article have plenty to gain from strong anti-phishing solutions and a lot to lose from a lack of preparation. The responsibility for keeping a business safe is already shared by different teams, including Information Security, Legal, and even Marketing. Companies like BrandShield help businesses find anti-phishing solutions that are tailored to meet each team’s needs to keep the business safe. We need the best people and tech tools on the job.
To learn more on how BrandShield can match the perfect anti-phishing solution to your business needs, schedule your personal demo today.