Release Date: 09/11/2020
Social engineering is the art of tricking someone into parting with personal information or into taking some kind of action through the misuse of technology. Companies and others who need to protect data can alleviate some of the risks by having a pro-active security culture that addresses each new threat as it evolves. Keep the following in mind to avoid being phished yourself:
Be Skeptical and Slow Down!
- Spammers want you to ACT FIRST and THINK LATER! If the message conveys a sense of urgency or uses high-pressure sales tactics be skeptical. The Key? Never let their urgency influence your careful review.
Research the Facts
- Be suspicious of any unsolicited messages. If the email looks like it is from a company you use, do your own research! Use a search engine to go to the real company’s site, or a phone directory to find their phone number.
Call them BACK!!
- Don’t share or release information until you can verify their identity. Please bear in mind that Cyber and Crime policies (providing Social Engineering Coverage) require you to authenticate the validity of the request prior to acting upon any transfer instruction. If an employee was deceived by a misrepresentation via an email or phone call thought to be authentic and released funds, no coverage is provided.
Keep your information and accesses SAFE!
- Make sure that you don’t share passwords over the phone or have them on a sticky note over your desk.
- Please bear in mind that hackers want to know more about you in order to act more real. For that reason, please keep all of your professional and private accounts safe. Please review your Privacy Settings on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and all other social media platforms.
Keep your systems UPDATED
- Software updates are important because they often include critical patches to security holes. Staying on top of all newly released security patches can help you mitigate plenty of attacks.