Cyber Crime: Phishing Attacks

Many unknowing employees are exposing confidential information on company computers, simply by using personal email.  The danger is from phishing attacks; fraudulent emails with intent to extract financial data.  They lure recipients in with false claims and official-looking emails.  With just a click, malware is uploaded and cyberheist has begun.  Customer data, credit card, bank account, and Social Security numbers can all be obtained.  This can be a serious threat.  Certain industries make prime targets and are more at risk than others.  You'll be surprised to find out who is vulnerable to phishing attacks.
  
In a recent research study, by KnowBe4, several thousand companies were targeted to see if they were safe from cyber criminals.  Small, fast-growing businesses from the Inc. 5000 list were chosen, and publicly available information was gathered.  Domain names and email addresses, easily accessed over the Internet, were obtained and some 28,000+ emails were sent.  Each email was a simulated phishing attack that did not have a malicious payload.  The results were shocking, within a couple hours half of all the emails had been opened.  Of the emails opened, employees from about 500 companies clicked the phishing attack link, exposing private company information.  Before the study's IP address was shut down, they had been able to gather data for about 21 hours.  This can have serious consequences.  It is estimated that small-businesses lose more than $40 million a year to cyber crime.  A growing problem, cyber criminals target smaller businesses and banks in particular due to low investment in IT.  The industries found most susceptible to attack were; travel, education, finance, government services, and in fact IT services.


(https://s3.amazonaws.com/knowbe4-images/KnowBe4+WP+Images/Fail500IndustryGraph.jpg)

It is scary to think that so many businesses are at risk, yet employees are unaware.  The CEO of KnowBe4, Stu Sjouwerman, said, "Most people assume that antivirus software and an in-house IT team provide sufficient data security, but considering that IT is among the most phish-prone industries, it's clear that's a very dangerous assumption to make."  Most people at work do not consider the risks they may be exposing the company to while being on the Internet.  Simply opening strange emails can have severe repercussions.  Cyber crime is a very profitable growing industry, and should be a major concern for small businesses.  Proper training, education, and prevention is crucial for combating cybercriminals.

Articles of Interest and Sources
http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2011/05/24/you-could-be-inviting-scammers-into-your-workplace/ (news article)
http://www.knowbe4.com/fail500/ (research study)
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/phishing