No company wants to become a victim of a phishing scam. Unfortunately, phishing scams can be challenging to avoid. Even if your company has best practices in place, one untrained employee could open the door for online scammers.

And cybercriminals are good at what they do. Phishing scams are a cyber criminal’s main source of profit, so you can be sure a cybercriminal will do all he or she can to access your company’s private data and information. You can learn more about phishing scams via this threat reference from Proofpoint. 

According to the FBI online crime report, phishing scams have cost people and businesses over $57 million in 2019 alone. That is a pretty clear call to action to protect your company from phishing scams. This is why we compiled a few essential tactics your company can employ. Let’s dive in!

1. Increase Firewall Protection Against Phishing Scams

Firewalls can deliver protection against phishing scams. However, not all firewalls are created equal. Your company needs a high-quality firewall to buffer between employees, computers, and cybercriminals trying to get in digitally. 

Firewalls come in two distinct types: desktop firewall and network firewall. Desktop firewalls are software programs and network firewalls are actual hardware that can be set up by your IT team. To protect your company from phishing scams, you should utilize both types of firewalls.

2. Stay Up-To-Date On Phishing Scams

Phishing scams come in all forms. This can make it difficult to avoid them, since many companies only look for the most common. The truth is, new phishing scams are created all the time, because cybercriminals know they need to be adaptable in order to be successful.

This means that you and your company can’t rely on only what is known from the past. You need to be very proactive, staying up-to-date on the latest scams. You can learn more about new phishing scams by visiting sites like the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Once you have new information, it is important to share it by holding security meetings with department managers and IT administrators. 

3. Train Every Employee On Email Phishing Scams

Many phishing scams are successful due to an employee error. In order to keep your company safe, training every employee about email phishing is critical. This is because email phishing is the most common way to open the door to a company’s private information and data.

If emails make it to an employee’s inbox, the employee should do a few checks. First, employees can check the sender email handle. If the email handle looks wonky, like tom@uswalmartinc.com, it is a good chance that the email is not from a Walmart employee. 

Clicking on links within emails can open the door for cybercriminals too. Train employees to hover over the link to see the URL that the link leads to. If it looks “phishy,” then don’t click it. And when in doubt, call IT to check it out before clicking.

4. Utilize Anti-Phishing Toolbars On Company Computers

Anti-phishing toolbars can be added to most internet browsers, like Google Chrome, customizing the browser for added phishing protection. Many employees use browsers to do research, find leads, and more, making this an important tactic to protect your company from phishing scams.

A quality anti-phishing toolbar will run a quick check on any site and compare the site to known phishing sites. It is like a website security and background check that takes a second. If a site is found to be malicious, the toolbar will notify the employee and block the site from being opened.

5. Eliminate Pop-Ups From The Equation

This is a very common phishing scam, and it can be very hard for employees to know what is legit, and what is not. For example, an employee may be researching online tools to streamline marketing. It is pretty common for these sites to have pop-ups for lead generation purposes. Your company may even use pop-ups.

Instead of employees seeing these tempting pop-ups, it is best to eliminate them all together. You can have company computers automatically block pop-ups, strengthening the overall online security against phishing for your company.

Is Your Company Safe From Online Crime?

Protecting your company is always priority #1, but protecting your company from online crime can fall through the cracks at times. This is why it is critical to employ the above tactics. From training employees to staying up-to-date on the latest phishing scams, ensure your company’s private data and information is safe.