Why Is Phishing So Darn Effective?!

Updated 03/10/2020

News

In this article we explore why is phishing, vishing (voice phishing), and business email compromise (BEC) scams are so diabolically effective. (2 minute read)

Phishing emails are like highly targeted marketing campaigns, designed to trick intelligent, well-meaning people into giving away company credentials, downloading malicious files, or sending money overseas.

In fact, cyber criminals are so good at their craft, that they scammed over $7.5 billion from U.S. based businesses in 2019  (citation).  Even more troubling is that small and mid-sized business are more at risk to attacks and have higher costs relative to their size than enterprise organizations, making it difficult for SMBs to recover from an attack (citation).

There are 2 reasons why phishing campaigns are so darn effective at deceiving you and your employees:

1. Your employees believe they could easily recognize a phishing scam. However, studies show that 1 out of 3 people will click on a malicious link if they’ve never been through a security awareness training.

2. Technology has given management and employees a false sense of security. They believe that phishing emails and business compromise email scams couldn’t get through the company’s spam filters, when the truth is that no technology is 100% effective.

Your best bet is to reduce the surface area of an attack using a layered approach to security that includes training and on-going education.

Strengthen your human firewall and invest in your security with our IC24 Security Awareness Training.

We use a blended approach to security awareness training that includes both live interactive training and simulated phishing events. This holistic approach is the best way to help create and nurture a culture of security awareness.

Contact us directly at 866-680-3388 or email ProtectMe@Consilien.com to book a discovery session and demo.

Photo by Kaitlyn Baker on Unsplash