The Gist
If you thought security training was useless, think again. According to Info Security Magazine, phishing education can save a company upwards of $3.77 million annually!
Hacking the mind seems to have become the popular attack of choice these days when it comes to online fraud. With little to no code required, hackers are using social engineering as their main means of acquiring private information. So why is this so dangerous? Well, by using social engineering hackers are manipulating human behavior so that they won’t need to go through any security systems, they just need to get to YOU.
By tricking authorized users into granting private information with logic-based means, it’s no wonder that social engineering schemes such as phishing have become such a large security concern for so many companies. With recent reports by SANS, ‘95% of all attacks on enterprise networks are the result of successful spear phishing.” With cyber criminals using sophisticated methods of spear phishing to appear legitimate, they can convince employees of installing malicious software without a second thought. Unlike normal fraud schemes, receiving an email posing as a legitimate source cannot always be screened with traditional network security. The only way to prevent a mink hack is to outsmart the hacker.
“According to Ponemon Institute, they found that the phishing email click rate improved an average of 64% following security training. Ponemon calculates potential cost savings of $1.8 million or $188.4 per employee/user.”
Even if successful phishing schemes can cost businesses a hefty price tag, preventing it doesn’t have to cost anything. Something as simple as security education can greatly reduce the risk of falling victim to a phishing attack so long as employees know what to look for. By combining the power of the HR department and IT, tackling the human factor of defense along with network defense is a sure fire way to keep employees engaged and alert. So even though normal cynical behavior is frowned upon, when it comes to social engineering, all we can say is doubt away!
At Affant Communications, we strive to keep you ahead of the security game with the latest and most updated security news. Remember, asking for private information through the web should always be taken with a grain of salt. But for the moments that you just might forget that, give us a call at 714.338.7100 and Affant will use our 24/7 monitoring and reporting so that we can always be on your side.
Affant Director of Engineering since 2000. Management of engineering and support team, Escalation of all technical and client issues. Sales and design engineer.
