Phishing testing for employees is essential in that it ensures employees can adequately spot and avoid complicated phishing attacks. When accompanied with an instant training moment, sending employees phishing tests can help your users become more aware of popular phishing tricks and tactics. Ultimately ensuring your employees are equipped with the proper tools and knowledge to avoid phishing attacks.
Phishing employees also reveals what weaknesses lie within your company. Highlighting which employees are more vulnerable to an attack and who might need additional training. Being equipped with this knowledge allows companies to make any necessary changes before an attack occurs.
Cyberattacks target 43% of small businesses, according to Accenture, but only 14% prepare to prevent attacks. Hackers favor small businesses because of this vulnerability. Insurance carrier Hiscox reveals these occurrences now cost businesses of all sizes an average of $200,000 per year. Within six months, 60% go out of business after being victimized.
Phishing Attacks are Disruptive
Phishing testing for employees needs to become a top priority for business owners. Cybercriminals are able to launch thousands of digital attacks on any device that connects to the internet. Jeopardizing your operations at any moment. All it takes is one device to connect or click a malicious link to cause a serious disruption.
Breaching the high-tech boundaries of almost every modern company is now guaranteed. Small businesses need to begin thinking of security threats in terms of when, not if, they will emerge. As more than half of all small businesses experienced a breach in the past year.
Phishing Attacks are Expensive
Businesses can quickly lose money due to attacks simply because of lost revenue, but when you consider additional expenses such as regulatory compliance, technical investigations, attorneys’ fees, loss of customer relationships, and any additional costs associated with cyber-attacks, these multiply quickly for a small business.
According to antivirus provider McAfee, 480 new high-tech threats are now introduced every minute. While some say human error is a company's biggest weakness, we like to say it's one's strongest defense. When employees are equipped with the proper knowledge and tools, your business is one step closer to avoiding an attack. However, only 3 in 10 employees currently receive cyber security training annually, so it’s easy for relentless con artists or email schemers to target these individuals.
Different levels of knowledge and suspicion about unexpected emails among employees within companies are common. Some employees will be more vulnerable than others, specifically when receiving emails disguised to be from their boss, human resources, or a colleague. However, enrolling all employees in phishing testing can assist them in understanding the threats out there and how to spot and avoid common phishing emails no matter their knowledge level. This small investment can ensure your employees are properly trained and prepared to stop a cybercriminal from infiltrating your business.
Phishing Simulations Reduce the Risk of Phishing Attacks
Phishing simulations allow you to bring awareness of cyber security threats to your organization in an informative and interactive format.
Real-time phishing simulations are fast and effective. They are a great way for you to educate your employees and increase awareness of phishing attacks. CEO fraud, fake websites, emails, spear phishing, and malware are some of the most popular ways in which cybercriminals steal personal and corporate information. However, their tactics are changing daily. New scams and phishing emails are constantly arising. So it's important to continuously phish your employees to be adequately trained on these new threats.
Phishing Simulations Reduce the Risk of a Data Breach
As we've said before, cybersecurity threats are always changing, but what they're after and the vulnerabilities they look for stay the same. By going after the vulnerable sides of businesses cybercriminals can easily obtain access, information, data and money from any business. These vulnerabilities can include weak virus protection, vulnerable passwords, easily accessible sensitive company information, or an uneducated and uniformed workforce. We recommend:
- Deploy spam filters and ani-virus protection: By doing so, you are ensuring you have proper anti-virus software that adds a layer of security on top of cybersecurity employee training.
- Use strong passwords: Passwords are a great way to keep your information safe and are completely necessary for almost every site you will need to get your work done and access your personal data. Simple passwords can leave you very vulnerable to threat actors ready to steal your most important data, access, and information. Make your password unique & complex, avoid personal info, and try using a passphrase instead of a password.
- Encrypting all sensitive company information and files: Obtaining encryption at any level, from file folders up to operating systems with built-in encryption, is helpful. Bigger organizations may find it more feasible to invest in third-party encryption programs.
- Use secure browsers: The browser stores large amounts of information that is vulnerable to being exploited when not managed properly. Information that is at stake is a person’s cookies, credentials, and browsing history. You should never save your user name and password in your browser, even if prompted, regardless of which browser you choose. Providing better security in popular browser modes, such as the new Firefox, which offers modifications to tighten protection against hacks and malware.
Find the Phishing Solution That’s Right for Your Company
Ideally, an anti-phishing solution should be able to train and condition employees to recognize phishing attacks.
Besides installing powerful anti-virus software, having an anti-phishing solution creates the last line of defense against hackers and malware.
Human error is what makes phishing attacks so successful. Over the past year, over 99% of data breach attacks relied on human error to penetrate systems. So it's vital to train employees on spotting and avoiding these attacks.
Book a demo today to learn more about how Hook Security can help you equip your employees with the proper knowledge needed to fight the rising threats of cybercrime.
