Kia ora,
I work at N4L as the Information Technology Security Manager. Cybercrime has an impact on all of us in one way or another in today’s world. There are several threats out there and one of the most common is Phishing attacks.
I’m sure everybody is familiar with the term, but just in case you’re not here’s a quick recap.
Phishing is a type of social engineering where a cybercriminal sends a fraudulent message created specifically to trick the recipient into revealing personal and sensitive information. The most common form of the message will be an email or a text on your mobile.
The best advice I can give you is to be vigilant and aware when reading emails or text messages!
Here are a couple of checks to quickly identify a Phishing message.
- Do you know the sender? If you don’t, carefully read the message. Verify the email address and not just the display address.
- Look for any bad spelling or incorrect use of grammar.
- These messages will have a sense of urgency or an unusual request. Stop and think. Is it urgent. Does the request make sense? Note, you probably did not win the UK lotto of millions of dollars.
- Are there suspicious attachments? Be careful opening attachments. Flag the file to be virus-scanned before opening.
- Are they asking you to provide any personal information? Do not provide or input any credentials, payment, or any other personal details.
- If all else fails visit CERT NZ for additional information.
Johan Gouws
N4L – Information Technology Security Manager