Internet ID (“IID”) recently released a survey on concerns about spear-phishing.
IID surveyed a large government organization, major online brands, and large and small banks. The survey revealed that because of recent breaches, many are concerned about spear-phishing . More than 85% of respondents acknowledged some concern about spear phishing, with 33% saying that they are “extremely concerned.”
There are two types of spear-phishing, each requiring a specific solution.
The first type of spear-phishing occurs when the criminal deceives consumers by masquerading as a trusted sender. A recent example of this scam was the fake email offering HSBC customers tickets to Wimbledon. The criminals used a lot of real facts to create a very convincing scam. Similar scams deceived Coke and McDonald’s consumers. For consumer facing spear-phishing, Iconix offers its Truemark service. The Truemark service identifies the email sender using icons that indicate the identity of the sender.
The second type of spear-phishing occurs when the criminal masquerades as a colleague working inside an organization. This is the type of attack that was used against the International Monetary Fund, the U.S. State Department, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the French Finance Ministry. Iconix offers its SP Guard service to fight fake internal emails.
It is important to know who is sending you email. Know Who. No Doubt. Iconix.