Vishing, or Voice Phishing, is a recent and fast-growing social engineering cyber-attack that businesses must take seriously.
What Is Vishing?
Vishing is a combination of two words: voice and phishing. In a Vishing attack, hackers attract untrained employees to call a phone number and use creative messages in a voice recording to steal sensitive information. A Vishing attack may try to trick employees into giving up passwords, logins or other sensitive data, and the big problem is – Vishing works!
This Vishing cyber-attack has become more prevalent with the increased reliance on telecommuting or work-from-home. At Cofense, we have seen a marked increase in Vishing attempts, as reported by our Intelligence team.
Let’s look at three things you need to know about Vishing and how to protect yourself from this effective scam.
1. Vishing is a Sleeper Scam
One primary reason Vishing is such an effective hacking technique is that it often goes undetected until the real damage has been done. Vishing is a sleeper scam because it usually takes a while for victims to realize they have been scammed. Hackers often carry out vishing attacks with a high degree of sophistication. They use caller ID spoofing technology and voice-mimicking software to make the message sound like a legitimate person or organization. These techniques make it difficult to detect the authenticity of the call. Therefore, staying alert and cautious when receiving unexpected phone calls asking for information is crucial. Special vigilance must be placed on email messages containing instructions to call a phone number for things like authorizations or validations.
2. Personal and Financial Data are Targeted
Vishing works by convincing victims to provide their personal or business-related information voluntarily. Typically, vishing attacks target users’ business credentials, employee identification, or bank account details. Once the attacker has acquired such information, it may be the first step to carry out a wide-scale cyberattack.
3. It Can Happen to Anyone
Most people believe they are smart enough to spot a scam or hack attempt. Unfortunately, vishing attacks on businesses are not exclusively targeted at technologically naive individuals or those who are easy to trick. Cybercriminals are going to great lengths to make their scams appear legitimate. But, through proper training, businesses can reduce this risk significantly.
How To Minimize the Impact of Vishing Attacks
A solid security response plan that minimizes the potential impact of a vishing attack on your business must include the following:
- Training of your employees. It’s not enough to just send an email explaining what employees should look for – you need to add real-life simulation training.
- You need an easy way for employees to report actual or suspected vishing attacks so your Security Operations Center (SOC) can adapt to Vishing’s dynamic nature.
- A way to communicate the security threats so your enterprise and your employees are aware of, and can recognize, the potential risks.
How Cofense Helps to Prevent Vishing Attacks
Cofense has released our Security Awareness Training (SAT) Vishing training module to our current customers and will offer this simulation training suite, that includes the Vishing training solution, to our new customers early next year.
Vishing security awareness training is critical because untrained employees may not recognize and report suspicious ploys, especially those originating through email.
Here’s a look at how to implement our Vishing solution in three easy steps:
Update your security awareness programs with Cofense’s Vishing LMS modules to train employees to recognize and report vishing attempts.
Customize the Cofense Vishing Simulator to fit your unique business perfectly.
Augment your native email security Secure Email Gateway (SEG) with Cofense phishing detection and response (PDR) product to leverage our auto-quarantine solutions.
Vishing is a dangerous security threat that can result in serious financial losses to your organization.
Cofense offers the necessary tools and services for this training and remediation. Our trusted combination of innovative solutions, technical expertise, and real-world curriculum allows us to provide your organization with the best possible strategies for protecting against vishing attacks.
Don’t wait to take action – contact us today and speak with one of our certified professionals who can help you create a safe environment for your business operations.
