From Nigerian princes to grandma needing bail money because she’s in the clink, many of us have fallen for scams. But what happens if employees are clicking on dubious links or replying to scam emails on a company device?
It’s especially important at this time of year because of all the deals that will be thrust into our social media feeds.
We all want to get good prices at Christmastime, so those links to jaw-dropping deals are so tempting to click on. But they can lead to data breaches.
Have you ever been asked to pay for something by putting money on a gift card? It’s a scam. There are fewer regulations/controls on gift cards, so once you put money on the card, it’s gone.
And then there’s the phishing factor. Phishing is when you receive an email that looks like it’s from a legit brand, but it’s not. The crooks are usually “phishing” for banking info or credit card numbers, and a surprising number of people hand that information over.
If this is happening at work, of course, there is a risk to the business network.
We’ve used this blog space to write about the effects of cybercrime in the workplace, so you know how destructive it can be. Say it with me: It’s not just the money and/or sensitive information that the company loses. Data breaches syphon off the time it takes to clean the mess up—cancelling company cards, changing passwords, ugh.
The solution is both simple and difficult. The simple part is to keep all software updated and ensure your business has an air-tight password manager, firewall and antivirus catcher.
The difficult part can be convincing the team to avoid clicking on anything even remotely suspicious while on a company device. That’s where education and training come in.
Your employees don’t want to cause trouble, so make sure they are confident when faced with a dodgy email or a link to thirty pairs of Christmas socks for a dollar. Show them how to recognize it. Talk to them about the latest scams and remind them that if a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is.
We don’t live in a perfect world, so if a scammer gets through the first line of defence, make sure they hit a brick wall. Craft the policies and procedures now that show employees what should happen in the event there is a data breach so it can be sealed off immediately.
We know how to do this stuff, so if you need some advice, drop us a line.
Ian Robertson
