Are your employees phishing savvy?
Phishing scams are a common occurrence in so many organisations, but can we prevent them?
The question should rather be, how can we prevent them? One way we can try prevent them is empowering your employees to identify a potential phishing attack before it happens. Otherwise, an employee can easily be tricked to give sensitive information leading to a potential threat and confidential information being leaked which could cost your company millions of Rands.

Here are 4 steps to set your employees up for success:
1. Conduct cybersecurity training
By conducting mandatory company-wide security training you can equip your staff with the skillsets they need to recognise phishing before being caught. Offer training as your onboarding procedure with regular refresher courses to follow.
It also doesn’t have to be boring so make the training rather fun and interactive to get the best out of your employees and it will also allow you to gauge what their level of understanding is.
It is also important they know what actions they need to take if they identify a form of phishing and who to report this too.
2. Conduct simulated phishing attacks
Using simulated phishing attacks and security awareness programs, you can see how your Employee’s react to suspicious emails, because it is essential to identify phishing emails quickly. Because hackers use real company logos and add small details to make their emails seem legitimate, red flags can be difficult to spot if you don’t know what you’re looking for.
Here are a few elements used to identify phishing emails:
- Typos and poor formatting. Unlike legitimate companies, cybercriminals likely do not have writers on staff to create their emails. If you notice obvious typos or pieces of the text that aren’t clear, this is a tip-off.
- No specific greeting. If the information seems generic (i.e., the email doesn’t reference your name or any identifying information), this could be a sign of a phishing email. Hackers will not usually take time to personalise emails. They will instead use the same one to cast a wide net and hope that someone bites.
- No domain email. Check the sender email address to identify whether it originated from a legitimate source. A reputable company will own their domain email (e.g., example@linkedin.com), whereas an imposter will alter the address (e.g., example@linkedin123.com) if they even put in the effort to make the address look authentic.
- Unsolicited attachments or information requests. Legitimate companies do not send attachments that you didn’t ask for, nor do they request sensitive information via email.
3. Share real life examples
To help employees understand what you’re up against, show real examples of companies that have suffered a breach of data a result of a phishing email. Your employees will learn the most powerful lessons through raw data: money lost, people affected, damage to the company, and other tangible facts.
It isn’t that your employees don’t care about the company’s security; however, without seeing what could actually happen, they may feel as though this training is more of a formality than a necessity.
4. Use trusted antivirus software that is well supported and maintained
Even with excellent security training, an employee could accidentally fall for a phishing email. If that happens, you’ll want a robust antivirus software installed on your devices.
But it is key to ensure that your software is well supported and regularly maintained to identify any loopholes or potential threats. Your IT department or service provider should keep an eye on antivirus for all your company’s devices; however, consider that if some employees use their personal devices, your IT team will need to ensure those devices are protected as well.
Increased security is a must
Increased security measures are a must in today’s day as we need to safeguard our data as well as our employees. There’s a tremendous shift in the way we work, and, unsurprisingly, technology is playing a significant role in it and is gaining momentum quicker than we can imagine. Rito-Technologies is an IT business partner who maximises business output through technology. They enable their clients to be secure with their IT Strategic Planning, which is guaranteed to increase your employee’s accessibility, productivity, and levels of communication with the right level of technology for business and employees.
For more information about our IT Strategic Planning or Technology Management Services, please get in touch with us at info@rito-tech.co.za and we will gladly assist you.
If you enjoyed reading this blog and would like to receive future blogs, please register here now.