“Click on this and win a dinner worth €100!” Will you fall for that?
October, cyber security month
Some steps to create awareness among your employees
Unfortunately, the cyber criminals of nowadays are much more sophisticated than ever. Their phishing emails are no longer clearly marked by an inheritance subject or by an amount of mistakes. Cyber criminals nowadays often prepare for months. They observe email traffic, wait for the right moment – for example, when someone is ill or on leave – and immediately haul in a big loot. How do you arm your company against them?
Few companies can withstand hacking. Besides operational damage (business continuity, cybercrime assistance, hardware and software renewal, technical unemployment), there is also reputational damage (loss of customer confidence, scaring off new customers, GDPR data breach). More and more employees know what phishing is and are able to recognise false messages. Nevertheless, too many people are still clicking on links in fake messages and hereby get infected with a virus, for example. One is often just too fast. A click is easily done. When the phishing attempts are even better and more credible thanks to months of preparation with social media, then you need very alert employees who do not allow themselves to be fooled. So, as a company, you'd better reduce the risk by training your employees.
Relax and think twice before clicking on a link
Phishing is currently still the malicious parties’ most important gateway to data, accounts and systems. No matter how well providers or companies try to stop phishing, phishing messages keep ending up in many inboxes. Do your employees have the reflex of thinking twice before clicking on a link or opening an attachment? Create awareness in your company by training and testing your employees.
Watch out with social media
LinkedIn and Facebook are an inexhaustible source of information for hackers. This is why it is important that your employees choose the proper safety parameters on their social media profile. Third parties should not have access to information/photos. They should also be aware of the "dangers" of the Internet. Cyber criminals try to obtain information in various ways.
Report suspicious emails
In 2018, Safeonweb received no less than 648.522 emails on suspicious@safeonweb.be . Software scanned the forwarded emails automatically. This way they were able to block an average of 4 fraudulent websites a day. Consequently, a total amount of almost 1500 websites were blocked in 2018.
Food Security helps its members by:
Organising a Cyber Security session for your employees. This session aims to create awareness among your employees of the risks of opening emails and text messages, of using social media and of choosing passwords. Furthermore, the proper reflex when receiving a suspicious email or phone call is crucial.
Being part of the Cyber Security Coalition and participating in the national campaign of the Centre for Cyber Security Belgium. Click on the button below to download material (posters, videos etc.) and use it in your company during the Cyber Security Month.
Developing tools that allow you to create awareness in your company. On the one hand, we have developed a poster in collaboration with I-Force with which you can recognize phishing emails.
On the other hand, we have created a step-by-step plan with which you can create cyber awareness in your company this month.
selecting interesting events for you. The Cyber Security Convention on the 16/10/19 has an SME-track for the management. Experts will explain how to set up a cyber security strategy, how to make your employees cybersafe and how to prepare your company on a cyberincident.
Learning points
First aid for consumer complaints
When receiving a sensitive consumer complaint, a swift response is key. Proper complaint management directly affects consumer confidence in your brand and products.
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