Spam and phishing emails are more than a nuisance. They can be genuinely costly.
It’s estimated that nearly 85% of all emails are spam and cost businesses roughly $5 billion annually.
Phishing, on the other hand, is one of the primary tools of the ever-growing cybercrime industry. Phishing, a form of social engineering, aims to steal sensitive information for exploitation, halting productivity and causing both reputable and financial damages.
However, businesses are not helpless against these attacks. By understanding what spam and phishing are, companies can arm themselves against them.
WEBIT Services has helped clients build effective security habits for over 25 years. It is passionate about cybersecurity strategy, tools, and education to help clients succeed in the war on cybercrime.
By the end of this article, you will know the definition of spam and phishing, the dangers they pose, why they are increasing, and how to identify and address these messages.
You may receive two kinds of unwanted emails: spam and phishing.
“Spam” describes emails from a wholesale recipient list for commercial purposes. It is the electronic equivalent of “junk mail” and can be time-consuming to sift through. Many times, these messages are irritating but harmless. On occasion, they carry malicious software.
“Phishing” is a kind of social engineering. Its goal is to convince users to give up sensitive information. Phishing emails are often disguised as messages from legitimate sources. Links and attachments are often infected with malware, viruses, spyware, or ransomware.
Both spam and phishing emails pose threats to productivity and data security.
Both phishing and spam emails date back to the 1990s. Since their creation, these techniques have continued to be popular among cybercriminals. In 2016, it was estimated that 91% of cyber-attacks were due to phishing emails.
When the COVID-19 lockdowns sent everyone home, we spent more time on the internet than ever before. Unfortunately, cybercriminals didn’t take time off during lockdowns. In fact, their activity increased.
This uptick in activity is attributed to three factors: the growing popularity of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, increased usage of personal devices, and the ease of growing profits through cybercrime.
With the rise of cryptocurrency, cybercriminals became even more motivated to gain access to secure networks. Unlike other currencies, bitcoin and other crypto-currencies are nearly impossible to trace. Previously, authorities could track funds used to pay cybercriminals. Now, cryptocurrency allows cybercriminals to remain elusive.
During lockdowns, many employees suddenly had to work from home. Many businesses found themselves unprepared for a mass exodus requiring more laptops than they had on hand. In response, many employees worked from their personal computers, which lacked the protection of professional hardware.
Unfortunately, this again provided easy targets for cybercriminals. Personal computers lacked professional endpoint protection but were connected to company networks. All a cybercriminal needs is for one employee to click one malicious link or give up one login, and they can access company data for exploitation.
With more and more customers shopping online, spammers saw an opportunity to make quick, easy money. Spam messages saw a massive increase during COVID-19 lockdowns. Spam and phishing emails increased by 220% during the height of the pandemic in autumn 2020.
With phishing, the rise of bitcoin and unprotected connections created greater opportunities for cybercriminals. The cybercrime industry is estimated to have over $1.5 trillion. The average price of a data breach is roughly $4.24 million. With numbers like that, cybercriminals have no incentive to slow down.
Email inboxes saw an increase in malicious and tedious messages from cybercriminals looking for a quick, easy profit.
Spam clogs inboxes, taking up valuable time to sift through them. Phishing could lead to a data breach, and both potentially carry malicious software.
While we can’t prevent them entirely from appearing in your inbox, there are two methods for decreasing risk: email tools and employee education to identify potentially harmful messages.
Your IT provider can recommend software tools to help keep spam and phishing out of your inbox as much as possible.
While tools can help catch the bulk of harmful messages, employees must know how to identify spam and phishing emails that may slip through.
All employees must know never to click links or open attachments from unknown or suspicious-looking senders. If the email is a phishing attempt, clicking the link or opening an attachment will result in a data breach or activating malicious software like malware or viruses.
Once upon a time, it was easy to spot phishing emails. Simply look for poor grammar and a badly copied logo.
However, phishing is becoming more sophisticated. Cybercriminals now sell and purchase “phishing kits” on the dark web. These kits allow hackers to mimic trusted brands in their emails and email links convincingly.
Some of the popular brands mimicked include:
Even with stylized advancements, phishing emails are identified by their intent: asking the recipient to give them sensitive information. This may be account logins or personal information they can use to impersonate the user.
Here are five common phishing email characteristics:
The best policy for dealing with odd emails is to report them to your IT provider helpdesk.
When in doubt, never click a link or open an attachment from a suspicious email. You could endanger your entire organization if it’s a phishing email or malicious spam.
Even though spam and phishing emails have existed for over 30 years, their attacks are becoming more frequent and costly. This is partly due to increased internet activity, the rise of cryptocurrency, and the growing sophistication of social engineering.
Businesses can decrease spam and phishing in their inbox using proper tools and filters. They can also reduce successful phishing attempts by educating their employees to recognize and report phishing emails.
Key phishing traits include:
Of course, links or attachments from unrecognized sources should never be opened. If they are a phishing attempt, they will expose your organization to malicious software and potential attacks.
For over 25 years, WEBIT Services has helped clients build effective cybersecurity strategies and practices.
Talk to your IT provider or internal IT department to learn more about email tools and filters. They can help match you with the best software for your business needs.
If you are looking for a new IT provider, schedule a free 30-minute consultation with WEBIT Services to see if it can help.
To learn more about cybersecurity practices, these articles are a good place to start:
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