November 2023

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The real danger with spear phishing comes when an attack is coming from the real mailbox of someone you know and interact with. In these cases, an attacker can read a long history of e-mails between you and them and emulate the communication style and even reference something ongoing. You are partially correct if this description makes you feel like these attacks are impossible to stop. It is almost impossible to use filters or e-mail security solutions to completely prevent anyone on the internet from being compromised. Instead, the defense comes from what you do with the information they give you. If they e-mail you about a financial transaction where they are changing the account information, follow up with a phone call or a text message confirming the request. If they e-mail you a document, don’t ignore unusual error messages or odd-looking files and assume it was just an error. If the file asks you to turn off a security feature to view the content, contact the sender asking them to send it another way.

“...text messages and even phone calls are being used more and more for attempting to start a compromise.”

While e-mail is by far the largest source of these types of attacks, text messages and even phone calls are being used more and more for attempting to start a compromise. Similar to e-mail, trusting your instincts when something seems off is the easiest and most effective protection. Verifying the information using a second communication channel is again a great way to ensure the request is real before taking any action. Regardless of how it gets to you, always be wary of messages that try to create urgency. Warning you a key

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NOVEMBER 2023