In today's digital age, the threat of phishing attacks has become an ever-growing concern for businesses of all sizes. As technology advances, so do cybercriminals' methods to steal sensitive information from companies, their employees, and their clients.
Delivery services witnessed more than 27% of all phishing assaults in 2022, making it the most targeted industry by phishing. Online stores came in second, followed by banks and payment systems, with over 15% and 10% of attacks focused on these areas. ~Statista
Phishing attacks are hazardous as they can be automated, which means that a single attacker can target many victims in a short time. This is why businesses must take proactive measures to prevent automated phishing attacks from compromising security.
Preventing automated phishing attacks requires businesses to stay up-to-date with the latest trends and techniques cybercriminals use.
This article will explore some tips and strategies businesses can use to prevent automated phishing attacks.
How Cybercriminals Automate Phishing Attacks?
Automated phishing attacks send out large volumes of phishing emails at once. The attack's goal is to overwhelm the users and make it harder for them to identify fraudulent emails. Automated phishing attacks can be sent from a single source or multiple sources simultaneously, depending on your attacker's sophistication.
The most common type of automated phishing attack is emailing thousands of individuals with similar but slightly different messages.
This makes it difficult for humans and anti-phishing filters to spot the difference between legitimate and fraudulent messages.
The first example is where an attacker will send out 10,000 emails with a subject line that reads "Payment required" but with slightly different content in each email. For example:
"Payment required: Order Number [random numbers]."
"Payment required: Order Number [random numbers] – Please complete this form immediately!"
Another common way attackers use automated phishing attacks is through social media platforms such as Facebook Messenger or Skype.
They will send out links to download malicious files onto your computer so they can take control of your device, spy on your activities, steal personal information, etc.
The Ripple Effect of Automated Phishing Attacks
Automated phishing attacks are a severe problem for businesses. They can bring about a ripple effect of adverse outcomes, including legal liability, data loss or theft, and reduced productivity.
Legal Liability
One of the risks of automated phishing attacks is that they can lead to legal liability claims against companies. This can occur if an employee clicks on a malicious link in a phishing email or is tricked into disclosing sensitive information to a hacker.
The result is that employees may suffer identity theft or other financial crimes due to their interaction with the phishing attack.
Business Disruption
Automated phishing attacks can cause significant disruption to businesses. These attacks often occur on the weekend or during non-business hours when employees are not working. This means employees may only realize their accounts have been compromised on Monday morning when they come into work.
Data Loss or Theft
Another threat from automated phishing attacks is data loss or theft, which could result from an employee clicking on a malicious link in an email. Once the malware has been downloaded onto your computer system, it can infect your files and spread across your network like wildfire.
Once this happens, hackers will access all your confidential information, including customer records, trade secrets and more.
Decreased Customer Trust
When a business is hit with an automated phishing attack, customers could lose trust in your organization and question whether you take security seriously. If your company has been hacked, your customers will think twice before giving you their information again.
Cost of Recovery and Remediation
When a business suffers from an automated phishing attack, they often have to pay thousands of dollars in fees to recover from the attack itself.
This includes hiring IT professionals to clean up infected systems and repairing any damage caused by the attack (such as lost data).
Building a Strong Defense Against Automated Phishing Attacks: Tips & Strategies
Automated phishing attacks are often overlooked in today's cybersecurity landscape, but they can be just as damaging as traditional phishing scams.
The nature of automated phishing makes it nearly impossible to detect and block every attack — but there are some steps you can take to protect your organization from automated phishing attacks.
Managed Phishing Simulation Service
With managed simulation phishing automation services, phishing simulations and training tasks can be automated using AI. The goal here is to train users regularly to prevent them from falling victim to phishing emails.
As part of this consistent training, simulation campaigns are developed based on real-life events, threats, and topics. It includes:
● Planning: Develop different types of targeted phishing emails, from mass emails to highly targeted emails.
● Training: Dedicated cybersecurity content ensures a comprehensive understanding tailored to each individual's growth trajectory.
● Automating: Employees will be enrolled in predefined learning journeys automatically, or they will be empowered to create their own workflows.
● Reporting: In-depth reporting with statistics.
Multi-Factor Authentication Implementation
Multi-factor authentication is an additional layer of security used in conjunction with single-factor authentication (username and password). It requires more than one "factor" or component before access to the system.
For example, suppose you have your username and password. In that case, you may need to provide another form of identification, such as a password or PIN, before gaining access to the system.
Advanced Email Filters and Anti-Phishing Software
Email filtering software scans emails for spam, viruses and other unwanted content while providing some degree of anti-phishing protection by screening out suspicious messages based on their content.
For example, an email message may include links that lead to known phishing sites or contain embedded malicious code like malware which could damage computer systems when opened.
Regular Security Assessments and Audits
Security assessments help identify weaknesses in your organization's security controls before hackers exploit them. These assessments also provide recommendations for improving the security posture.
This is especially important when defending against phishing attacks since they rely on human error as part of their success rate.
Machine Learning and AI for Threat Detection
Without human intervention, machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies can automatically identify suspicious emails in your organization's inboxes. This means you can scale up your defenses without hiring additional staff or spending money on other tools or services.
Strengthening Your Cybersecurity Posture with SEMNet's Managed Phishing Simulation Service
Automated phishing attacks can devastate businesses, including financial losses, reputation damage, legal liabilities, and decreased productivity. Companies must take proactive measures to prevent such attacks.
SEMNet's Managed Phishing Simulation Service offers an effective solution to enhance cybersecurity posture by proactively testing employees' susceptibility to phishing scams and improving their awareness and response to potential attacks.
By leveraging such services, businesses can strengthen their defenses against automated phishing attacks and better protect their sensitive information and assets.