30 Mar Building a powerful cyber security arsenal – Guard against them
As we explored in the last blog in the series, cyber security should be one of your organisation’s main concerns going forward. Knowing the potential threats and how to guard against those threats is imperative to ensure you are cyber secure.
Let’s take a closer look at two of the ways cyber criminals attack your system and what you can do to guard against them.
Cyber security threats and ways to guard against them.
Vishing
Vishing is very similar to ‘Phishing’ attacks (covered in the previous blog in the series) in that deception is used as the vessel to attack the system and essentially extract sensitive files / data. The difference is that Vishing attacks are performed on VoIP phone systems and not via Email.
Vishing fraudsters use the increased anonymity that VoIP provides compared to traditional telephony. Landline telephone services allow numbers to be assigned to physical locations known to the phone companies, whereas VoIP enables the use of features (such as caller ID spoofing) which make it even harder for the authorities to ensure criminals pay for their actions.
As much as the similarities between Vishing and Phishing are few, they still bare similar methods of manipulation in the attempt to employ them. Vishing scammers – ‘Vishers’ – often use a sense of urgency, fear, and emotional manipulation to force victims into sharing their sensitive information. A perception of legitimacy is also created by using fake caller ID profiles and the use of IVR (interactive voice response) systems.
Vishing – How to guard against it
Even with the advancements in technology, and the widely available SMS platforms available on the market, most businesses around the world still receive many phone calls on a daily basis. Of course, most calls are from legitimate sources but it’s vital to remain vigilant when a caller asks probing questions or wants you to disclose identifying or account-specific information, it is imperative that you are aware of the dangers. Here are some important tips for you and your employees to guarantee you don’t fall victim to a Vishing scam.
- Control – Stay in control at all times. If a caller tries to take control of the call, and almost needs to sell themselves or the company they are calling from, hang up! Good scammers have an answer for everything.
- Awareness – Be aware at all times for anything that doesn’t quite add up or makes you feel uneasy. And, again, hang up if this is the case. If the source is legitimate, they will contact you via other channels.
- Don’t give in to pressure – Be wary if the caller is using emotive language or trying to distil a sense of panic or urgency in you. This should raise red flags immediately.
- Ignore unknown numbers – As we said before, if the caller is from a legitimate source, they will leave messages allowing you to reach out to them or contact you via another method of communication.
Now you know how to be prepared for an attempted Vishing attack, let’s take a very brief look at a similar type of cyber attack.
Smishing
Having read the blog series to this point you should be relatively familiar with Phishing and Vishing scams so you may have already worked out what Smishing is. But, if not, Smishing is a Phishing scam carried out via SMS messaging so all efforts to guard against it need to be the same.
Cyber security guaranteed with Varatech
Our team of experts will implement and maintain the cyber security of your business. Security is not a luxury but an essential part of protecting any business in the digital age, and that is why we take a security-first approach. We will educate your employees to guarantee they are doing their part to guard the security of your organisation; we go above and beyond in helping our clients and their teams get much more value from their technology by providing knowledge and training. We guarantee that our clients always come first, with a straightforward approach that provides a strong relationship between our team and yours. Contact us now and find out how we can help your business.
