Key Takeaways:
- Vigilance in URL Inspection: Employees should be trained to carefully inspect URLs before clicking on any links. Hackers often create URLs that mimic legitimate websites by making slight alterations, such as changing letters or adding special characters.
- Caution with Unknown Emails: It’s crucial for employees to exercise caution when dealing with emails from unknown senders. Fake emails can be crafted to look like they are from reputable sources, but careful scrutiny of sender information, including email addresses and contact details, can reveal discrepancies that indicate the email is fraudulent.
- Use of Antivirus and Anti-Malware Software: Implementing robust antivirus and anti-malware solutions is essential for overall cybersecurity hygiene. These tools act as a crucial line of defense against malicious software that may be inadvertently downloaded through fake links or phishing attempts.
Unknown links can be a threat to your business and employees. Fake link prevention strategies are now more popular among business owners. Here are some tips to ensure your staff knows how to spot fake links right away. This training can prevent hackers from getting access to your company data. It is always better to be proactive in cases like these.
How To Spot Fake Links: A Brief Guide for Staff Security Training
You might want to share the following tips on how to detect fake links and prevent them from being used in your security training. These security tips will give your staff the tools to protect themselves and their family from the dangers of malicious links.
Security Tips #1: Before Following These URLs
As part of your security training, a tip that you can give to your staff is to make sure they check all URLs. A URL is the web address you visit when you click on a link. Hackers use common tricks to trick URLs into appearing authentic. They mimic legitimate websites by using a similar URL.
One example is to disguise bogus hyperlinks by changing the website’s name from “example-site.com” to “example_site.com”. This small change can be easily overlooked but could result in your staff being caught with a fake link.
More examples are available here:
Amazon URLs will look familiar to anyone who deals with them regularly.
[email protected], [email protected], or [email protected]
These bogus URLs, however, will look something like this:
hurry@amazon-$75.com, buddy79@my_amazon.com, or [email protected]
The URL may not contain the sender’s name. These URLs may be found:
[email protected], holographic_iris@$9di4!wow.net
Any link you find out of place, ask questions. It’s easy to fall for a trap if your staff doesn’t carefully review these.
This staff security tip requires that they are aware of checking the URL and the link’s name. Hackers are able to disguise malicious links as legitimate ones by using the website name as anchor text. Instead of redirecting you to the genuine website, the hyperlink will redirect you to another one. It’s easy to check the destination of hyperlinks, especially when you are using computers. All you have to do is right-click the link and it will open up.
Security Tip #2: Do Not Open Unknown Emails
Another important tip is to make sure that your employees don’t open unread emails. This is difficult for many people. How can you tell if a sender is genuine or not? This is why it’s so hard to comprehend. It can be difficult for some people to determine if the firm’s contact information is legitimate. We have some tips to help you decide.
First, you can search the source for the telephone number to find the phone number. You can often find the information you are looking for by doing a quick search. These numbers will be listed on most companies’ websites. If the phone number isn’t legitimate, there are many websites that display fake numbers. In such cases, you can search the number to determine if it was genuine.
To verify the sender’s identity, it is possible to search for an email address and see if there are any results. Many companies will display their contact email addresses on their websites. You can verify that the links you are clicking are legit by checking if the email address is displayed on the website. You should verify the authenticity of the email address if it does not appear on the site.
Don’t be afraid, if you have difficulty finding the right information through a search engine, to get in touch with the company. Many companies will be happy to assist you if they can prevent a scam from happening in your name. Make sure your employees know how to check any link-containing communication.
Security Training Tip #3 – Get the Best IT Support and Antivirus Software
We cannot stress enough the importance of antivirus and anti-malware solutions as a final tip in your security training. These solutions can be a great security backup. This is important in the event that someone follows an untrue link and attempts to download malicious software. Antivirus software can be purchased at a very affordable price and is easy to install in your office. Contact us today if you have any questions. We can help you choose the right antivirus software, and we will also train your staff.