editor’s question
JACK COOPER,
SENIOR CYBER
ADVISOR, ITC
SECURE
I
t is no
coincidence that
Ciaran Martin,
CEO of the
NCSC, described
phishing attacks
as being the
number one priority for boardrooms this
year. Phishing remains a very popular
and successful type of cyberattack
and, according to a recent report by
Verizon, one in five employees have
fallen victim to a phishing email in the
last year. Recent stats also indicate that
over 91% of cyberattacks start with a
phishing email.
However, in contrast to the billions
spent on cybersecurity hardware
and latest AI-based tech, meeting the
phishing challenge and saving your
reputation can be a simple matter of
employee awareness.
The top priority for all organisations
should be to focus on user awareness
and cybertraining; companies spend
30
millions on health and safety and
the latest employee feedback tool,
whereas this is equally as important.
Teaching your employees to spot the
difference between a legitimate email
and a malicious one is your best line of
defence – a simple rule of ‘don’t click
that link’ can be a step change in your
security. Training an insider army will
protect you from cybercrime.
But one click is all it takes and we are
told daily that phishing scams evolve
quicker than your employees do, so you
should aim to develop your defences
just as quickly.
One click is all
it takes and we
are told daily that
phishing scams
evolve quicker than
your employees
do, so you should
aim to develop your
defences just
as quickly.
Conducting phishing simulations
regularly will help, but under the
right controls. You should also ensure
you utilise proven, accredited cyber
CBT programmes and having a regular
secure password change process is
a must.
Of course, technology plays its part.
Spam filters and anti-spoofing controls
like DMARC will help, as will ensuring
that you make regular checks on the
dark arts by threat hunting – where
identifying compromised email
credentials and domain names can avoid
a looming phishing attack.
In addition, only ever use supported
software and devices, and make sure
they are always kept up to date with the
latest patch or update. Similarly, don’t
let your users install random malware
and check user access privileges – only
allow those who need admin rights be
enabled and don’t let these people use
these accounts to browse the web
Finally, in this whistle-stop tour, have a
plan, know what to do and how to react
quickly if the worst case happens. Users
should know who to contact and what to
do next, without fear of punishment. The
plan should cover legal and regulatory
processes and a scenario should exist
for all types of incident. The quicker you
react, the better the outcome.
Remember; practice makes perfect so
test your plan regularly. u
Issue 12
|
www.intelligentciso.com