Don’t Get Caught on a Hacker’s Line – Secure Yourself from Phishing Attacks

WatchGuard, a world leader in network security products, offers advice about protecting your business from phishing attacks.

Phishing attacks continue to be a major concern for all of us. In fact, 76% of businesses report being a victim of a phishing attack in the last year alone. This is not surprising, considering these attacks are straightforward to execute and profitable for those who succeed. However, as a result of education and good defence, it is possible to protect your organisation from a phishing attack.
 

What is Phishing?

A phishing attack is when criminals sends emails pretending to be someone they are not, attempting to extract sensitive data. They often use common tactics such as eliciting fear, curiosity or a sense of urgency. This will therefore entice the target to open an attachment or click a malicious link.
 
What can be even more effective for a hacker, is to wage a spearphishing attack. These are emails that include specific information pertaining to the target. Attackers will often research their target on social media channels like LinkedIn or your corporate website to craft the perfect email guaranteed to make them click.
 

Defending Against Phishing Attacks

To successful defend against attacks, you need to educate staff and defend your networks.
 
All your staff need to know about phishing and the consequences, understanding what to look out for and what to do when they become suspicious. You don’t want to be reacting after they have already clicked on something malicious!
 
The principle pillar in any anti-phishing program is to provide protection with a barrier between your network and the attackers. This is achieved with DNSWatch from WatchGuard, their newest security service to be added to Total Security Suite.
 
DNSWatch protects those who find themselves on the losing end of a phishing email. It detects malicious DNS requests and blocks access to these sites, redirecting the user to a safe page that reinforces the risks and warning signs of a phishing attack.
 

Protection from WatchGuard

WatchGuard is a partner of Vantage IT

Every organisation has their share of happy clickers. Even if only one of your employees clicks on an unsafe link or downloads an infected attachment, you need to have the right security services in place. With WatchGuard Total Security Suite, you’re able to protect end users from an attack, while reinforcing malware education.
 
WatchGuard Gateway AntiVirus scans files and traffic flowing through the firewall to identify known malware. When a threat is identified based on signature matching, the connection is blocked or the file is stripped. This protects employees from malicious attachments, included in a phishing attack, from ever reaching the person waiting for a chance to click.
 
For zero day threats reaching your network, WatchGuard APT Blocker executes the file in a cloud sandbox environment and analyses its threat potential. This results in malicious files being quarantined and system administrators alerted to the threat.
 

More Information

To understand how a WatchGuard firewall and the Total Security Suite will protect your organisation, please contact Vantage IT today.