Cyber attackers are using the COVID19 situation as a cover for increased attacks. In particular, there are a lot of phishing emails that use the Corona Virus subject to catch people out.
It is certain that you will receive COVID19 related phishing emails during this period and they will appear to be genuine
Any email that you are not 100% certain of should be treated with suspicion
Do the following:
- Hover your mouse over links to see what they really point to,
- Hover the mouse over the sender address to see if it really is what it claims to be,
- Read the email address carefully to see if it is correct (such as @hmrc.co.uk rather than @hmrc.gov.uk)
- Be aware of poor grammar or odd English in the email
If in doubt, assume its suspicious and report to security@argyll-bute.gov.uk
Phishing is the process of contacting people in an attempt to trick them into revealing information or downloading malware to compromise their cyber-security in some way. Most phishing is in the form of email but it can be done using text messages, social media and even by telephone.
We have a sophisticated system that removes the vast majority of phishing and spam emails before they reach staff inboxes but the best defence against phishing is to be able to spot it. If we can spot the phishing email for what it is then we won’t fall for it and it will have failed to do its job. This is very important as most major cyber-attacks start with phishing in order to gain information and access to the target network.
Phishing is a real threat to our security, at work and at home. Would you be able to spot a phishing email? And would you know what to do if you did receive one?
