COVID 19 Phishing Attempts

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies have had to change working practices that have seen many operate remotely with an increased reliance on communication methods such as email due to being apart from co-workers and clients.

Cyber criminals have attempted to exploit this with widespread knowledge of the pandemic and working from home practices in order to disguise themselves as genuine contacts. These emails can look genuine with them using logos or branding specific to an organisation.

We would advise looking out for the following:

•    Any email that asks you to click a link
•    Any email that sounds urgent
•    Any email that advises it contains breaking news
•    Any email that may attempt to impersonate a government or medical department

How to protect against phishing emails:

•    Check the email address – while the name might be familiar to you, check the actual email address
•    Never supply financial details over email – this is a bad practice at any time (in case of someone gaining access to your account / recipient account)
•    Use a reputable and up to date Anti-Virus Software
•    Check links before you click – while a button may appear to take you to one site, the hyperlink may take you elsewhere
•    Check for any spelling or grammatical errors – this can be an indication of a phishing email.

If in doubt, we recommend that you delete any suspicious emails to remove the risk of you clicking on a phishing email.

However, if you would like any further advice, cyber security training or infrastructure, please contact Ashgates IT here.