Phishing attacks often involve receiving an email with an attachment or link from what appears to be a colleague’s email address.
It’s typically altered by just one letter—for example, instead of [email protected], it may be [email protected] (the “m” is replaced with an “n”). A user may not notice the subtle character change and click on an attachment (unleashing a virus or malware), or follow a link to a phony site that lures them into revealing private information.
To snare users who may not be paying attention, hackers use various tricks—from creating intentionally blurry PDF preview attachments to building fake Google landing pages.
Phishing hacks can be reduced by teaching users to inspect any suspicious email with attachments or links. Look for the correct spelling of any sender’s name as well as the proper organizational nomenclature, such as [email protected] (if that is how all district emails are structured).
Also inspect links for questionable web addresses before clicking.
