10 Cyber Hygiene Practices to Avoid Phishing Attacks

Understand the characteristics of a phishing scam, new phishing attack techniques are invented

Phishing attacks are a type of cybercrime that employs phony emails, texts, calls, websites, or other communications to fool you into disclosing sensitive information or downloading malware. Phishing attacks, which can steal your identity, money, passwords, or private documents, can seriously harm your personal or professional data. Therefore, it is important to practice good cyber hygiene to protect yourself and your organization from phishing attacks.

Here are 10 cyber hygiene practices that can help you avoid phishing attacks:

1. Know What a Phishing Scam Looks Like: Although new phishing attack techniques are constantly being created, they all have some characteristics that may be seen if you know what to look for. Several websites online can keep you informed about the most recent phishing attacks and their key signs.

2. Don't Click on That Link: Even if you know the sender, it's generally not a good idea to click on a link in an email or instant message. At the very least, you ought to be checking the link's destination by lingering over it. Some phishing attacks are quite clever, and the destination URL may resemble an exact replica of the legitimate website.

3. Get Free Anti-Phishing Add-Ons: Most modern browsers now let you download add-ons that identify telltale signs of a phony website or alert you to well-known phishing websites. As they are often completely free, there is no reason not to have this installed on every device in your business.

4. Don't Give Your Information to An Unsecured Site: If a website's URL doesn't begin with "https" or if you can't see a closed padlock icon next to the Address, avoid entering sensitive information or downloading anything from it. Phishing scams might not be intended for websites with invalid security certificates, but it's better to be safe than sorry.

5. Rotate Passwords Regularly: If you have any online accounts, you should make it a habit to change your passwords frequently in order to stop an attacker from acquiring unrestricted access. You can thwart current attacks and prevent potential attackers from accessing your accounts by providing an additional layer of security through password rotation, even if you weren't aware that your accounts had been compromised.

6. Don't Ignore Those Updates: It can be annoying to constantly receive update alerts, and it can be tempting to delay or disregard them. Avoid doing this. In order to stay current with modern cyber-attack methods, security updates and patches are routinely provided to close security gaps.

7. Install Firewalls: Firewalls serve as a barrier between your computer and an attacker, effectively preventing external attacks. Desktop and network firewalls can improve security and reduce the possibility of a hacker infiltrating your environment when used together.

8. Don't Be Tempted by Those Pop-Ups: Pop-ups aren't simply annoying; they're frequently connected to malware as a result of phishing attempts. The majority of hazardous pop-ups from most browsers can now be automatically blocked by downloading and installing free ad-blocker software.

9. Don't Give Out Important Information Unless You Must: As a general guideline, you shouldn't willingly give up your card information unless you completely trust the website you are visiting. If you must provide your information, be careful to validate the reliability of the website, the reliability of the business, and the reliability of the website's security.

10. Have A Data Security Platform to Spot Signs of An Attack: It's critical that you recognize and respond quickly to phishing attacks in case you are unlucky enough to fall prey to one. By automatically warning on unusual user activity and unwanted changes to files, a data security platform relieves some of the load on the IT/Security team.