Earlier this year, there was a report on a new spear-phishing attack seeking to steal people’s sensitive data.  The spear-phishing email message, apparently drafted to look like it came from FedEx, included a link that took the recipient of the email to a Google Docs page and then used a script to download malware to the employee’s computer. What was notable about this spear-phishing attempt was that the email “bait” actually included employee sensitive data, such as his or her Social Security Number.  This is yet another new wrinkle in such phishing attempts and should serve as a reminder about being diligent in continually monitoring and improving your cybersecurity program.

Last year alone, cybercriminal activity increased 38%. While cybercriminal activity comes in different forms,  90% of all successful cybersecurity attacks begin with phishing emails. That’s right, 90%! If you are wondering whether this should alarm you as a business owner, IT SHOULD. That’s because the greatest workplace threat to data security is rarely cyber-hackers. As we have shared before, the biggest risks are employees making things easy for hackers or violating policies themselves. Every day, millions of employees read their emails. Consequently, in reading those emails, every day thousands of employees unknowingly open phishing emails, downloading malware viruses to their computer and company databases.Continue Reading Data security: The bad guys are stepping up their game. Are you?