You Should Be Training Your Staff on Phishing Tactics

Phishing attacks are a major problem that all businesses must be prepared to handle. Sometimes it comes in the form of messages or web pages designed to steal information from your employees, but other times it might come in the form of phone calls asking for IP addresses or network credentials under the guise of your IT department. It’s especially important that your staff members understand how to identify these tricks, and it all starts with phishing training.

Let’s take a look at what goes into building a successful phishing training program. Phishing training is an involved process that exposes your team to simulations of real-world phishing scenarios. The type of phishing training that is most effective is not a lecture or video tutorial on what to look for; rather, it’s a much more involved process that exposes employees to all types of phishing in an attempt to get them to realize just how creative hackers can get with their tactics. 

Phishing training itself will depend on the context for what you are trying to accomplish. Videos and tutorials might work as an introduction to the concepts, but more hands-on training is required to understand the full breadth of phishing schemes. Therefore, we recommend interactive workshops and other types of hands-on training that really hammers home what can be learned in videos.

The best way to determine your employees’ current level of phishing awareness is to test them without their knowledge using a simulated attack. This should help to establish a baseline for where your employees currently stand on phishing knowledge. You can then use this knowledge to build your approach to phishing training. Some employees might not need training at all, whereas others might need more.

The important thing to remember here is that you don’t want to make your employees feel stupid for falling for these tricks. Training is not necessarily about calling out employees on reckless behavior, but it is about correcting that behavior so your business stays secure. This preventative training will prepare them for the time when they do need to use this knowledge.

While we all want to trust our employees to use common sense and to not click on suspicious links in emails or hand over passwords, at the end of the day, some phishing attempts are going to be so well-disguised that they will need the extra training to save you from disaster. Hackers will fool someone within your organization, so the best thing you can do to prepare for this situation is to train your employees and reinforce proper security practices with them.

If your business needs phishing training, Computerware is happy to help. By working with our trusted IT professionals, your employees will learn how to identify potential phishing threats and how to respond to them without risking your company’s security. For more information on how to keep your company secure, reach out to us at (703) 821-8200.