Key Tips to Avoid Cyber Scams | APAC CIO Outlook

Key Tips to Avoid Cyber Scams | APAC CIO Outlook There is no “one-size-fits-all” solution for defending yourself and your company from cyber scams. When companies and individuals continue to introduce new devices and technologies, they expose themselves to further cyber-attacks. To effectively protect the valuable information that motivates cybercriminals, we must first understand the various types of scams that threaten us.

Phishing Scams

Phishing attacks are all too prevalent in both corporate and personal networks. They occur when a criminal sends a contact

posing as someone else in order to extract or access passwords, personal data, or financial details about the targeted individual or confidential information relevant to the organization for which the target works. Furthermore, 59 percent of all active ransomware infections are spread via phishing scams. Here are a few things to keep in mind to help you identify these malicious scams:

Cross Check Contact Names: Use caution if you receive emails from an unknown source that require you to perform an action, such as providing personal information or signing into a website. Most, if not all, businesses would never ask for your details via email or text. When anyone does this, it should be taken as a red flag that they are not who they claim to be. Check for contradictions in their email address or phone number with the individual or organization they claim to be affiliated with.

Misspellings and Poor Grammar: Professional organizations read their messages thoroughly before sending them. Phishing cybercriminals often do not. If you receive a message from a supposedly trustworthy source that contains typos, bad grammar, or incorrect punctuation, it is most likely a scam.

Recognize Aggressive Behavior: If a message’s subject matter and vocabulary are too violent, it is most likely a scam. Have you ever got an email in your SPAM folder that said something like, “Urgent! Your account has been overdrawn for X days. “Please contact us IMMEDIATELY”? The goal here is to make you feel uneasy, panic, and take the action that the scammers want you to take. Instead, before making any immediate decisions, consult with the group they claim to represent.

Check out: APAC CIO Outlook Scam