Protecting Your Organization from Phishing Attacks

Did you know that 91% of successful data breaches started with a spear-phishing attack?.  Your employees are the weakest link in your network security. Do your users know what to do when they receive a suspicious email?. 

Phishing is a form of fraud in which the attacker tries to get information as login credentials or account information by masquerading as a reputable entity or person in email, IM or other communication channels. Typically a victim receives a message that appears to have been sent by a known contact or organization.

Neudomains Phishing Detection protects your business from the earliest stages of a phishing attack. This turnkey solution provides a 24×7 service that automatically scans sources for phishing URLs, covering the entire phishing life cycle.  By utilizing our software and  methods, Neudomains can detect technologically advanced attacks involving cross-site scripting (XSS), dynamic code obfuscation, URL obfuscation, java-script manipulation, and client-side redirects.

One of the reasons for its popularity amongst attackers is the relative ease of deployment with a very broad target base . The schemes are varied, typically involving some combination of spoofed email (spam), malicious software (malware), and fake websites to harvest personal information from unwitting consumers . The explosive rise of mobile devices, mobile applications, and social media networks has given phishers new vectors to exploit, along with access to volumes of personal data that can be used in more targeted attacks or spear phishing . The fact that phishing attacks are still so common highlights their efficacy and reinforces the need to implement comprehensive phishing protection and response plans to protect organizations .

Both large and small businesses are targets of this pervasive form of online fraud . 

The goal of any organization is to prevent or minimize the impact of phishing attacks . This can only be achieved by the development and implementation of a comprehensive phishing protection and response plan.

Key objectives of an effective phishing protection and response plan should include:

Identification of appropriate stakeholders and their responsibilities

Ensuring compatibility with existing processes, including consideration for daily operational flow, size of organization, and availability of resources
Creation of effective internal/external communications process
Development of a solid phishing response escalation plan
Minimization or avoidance of negative customer experiences
Reduction of financial losses due to online fraud
Proactive protection of corporate reputation
Routinely educating employees about existing threats and social engineering tactics through cyber safety awareness training

How to protect yourself from phishing 

​An effective phishing protection plan should focus on four primary areas: Prevention, Detection, Response, and Recovery

1. Prevention: Make Your Organization A difficult Target

2. Detection: Speed Is Everything

3. Response: Communication is key.

4. Recovery: Have a proccess in place

Phishing is a problem that will be around for the foreseeable future. Phishing schemes continue to proliferate because they work, and they are increasingly becoming more sophisticated and better able to hide from detection.

It makes good business sense to take a hard look at your company’s readiness, ascertain your preparedness, and devise a solid, aggressive plan to combat the problem of phishing. Doing so is a win-win for the security professional, the customer, and the business as a whole.

Pharming uses fake DNS Servers to direct consumers to phishing sites. Although the browser will display the legitimate URL, they will not be on the legitimate server.

There are two components to a Pharming Attack – the DNS Server containing the incorrect DNS information for a domain, and the phishing site on an incorrect IP Address.

Pharming vs Phishing

Phishing and pharming are two different ways hackers attempt to manipulate users via the Internet. Phishing involves getting a user to enter personal information via a fake website. Pharming involves modifying DNS entries, which causes users to be directed to the wrong website when they visit a certain Web address.

Neudomains can identify rogue pharming DNS Servers, and the corresponding Phishing site on the fake IP Address.

Contact us to learn how Neudomains threat intelligence services can help protect your organization from the risk of phishing.