Because spear phishing attacks are getting more common and smarter, they can be awful for businesses. Due to their ease of use and effectiveness, phishing attacks are a standard method used in social engineering for data breaching.

According to a 2022 Data Breach Investigation (DBIR) report, the rate of phishing attempts is over a third (36%) of data breaches. So, spear phishing protection is crucial for your company’s security protection. But what helps protect from spear phishing? Here are some measures you can take to stop spear phishing

Spear Phishing

“Spear phishing” is a spamming effort targeting a particular individual or organization. It frequently includes details that are attractive to the victim, like current affairs or financial records. It is an effort to get sensitive data or gain control of a computer server through fake communications that look official.

Like other social engineering attacks, spear phishing preys on the most fundamental human behaviors, like:

• An urge to be helpful
• Give a positive response to people in authority 
• Willingness to respond warmly to individuals with similar interests or viewpoints or a simple interest in current events and news.

Also Check: 5 Types of Social Engineering Attacks and How to Prevent Them

What Helps Protect from Spear Phishing?

Even for staff who are familiar with cybersecurity, spear phishing may be very difficult to detect since tactics are constantly changing. Here are some crucial actions your business can take immediately to secure yourself, your clients, and your staff against an attack.

Staff Awareness

Employee training is one of the essential techniques for securing against spear phishing. You should train your staff on what to look for to prevent them from falling for a phishing email by teaching them the apparent indications of spear phishing.

One of the best ways to prevent your firm from spear phishing attempts is to prioritize cybersecurity and organize frequent cyber-awareness training sessions.

Strong Cybersecurity Policies

Every business should have a firm cybersecurity policy in their company. The right policies, procedures, and standards of an organization ensure that employees are trained for any potentially harmful situations.

When a situation deviates from expectations, they are bound to follow business regulations under such difficult circumstances. Establish specific regulations to reduce the danger of spear phishing to your company. Specify rules for:

• Using Internet
• Attaching any hardware
• Password sharing or changing
• Installing or updating a software
• Assign duties to every person individually
• Physical appearance for entry and working within the workplace

Multi-Factor Verification

Users must submit one or more types of confirmation using multi-factor verification to access a service. Multi-factor proof includes standard user credentials with additional confirmation factors, such as SMS messages, fingerprints, and app-based verification. 

This is one of the most basic and affordable ways that helps protect from spear phishing.

Use VPN

A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is an excellent method for securing your company against online threats. You’ll be able to ensure your network traffic for more security and transparency.

Even if your staff works remotely, the correct VPN gives your business’s network an additional layer of security. This tool is highly recommended and is especially important when sharing sensitive corporate information.

Encrypt your Files

Encryption protects your data from hacking, as only those with the decryption key can view it. Some apps ensure to decrypt your encrypted file; however, they frequently fail. But adopting a reliable encryption solution will let you know that spear-phishing cannot access your data.

Keep a Backup of your Files

Data backups are a standard best practice that keeps essential information from being lost. They also keep your business safe. Maintaining backups is an excellent approach to protecting your information in the case of an attack. It can help you identify how the hacker gained access to stop it from happening again.

Keep Security Software Up to Date

Although your program recommends upgrades, you may need to remember or postpone them. The best way is to set your system to automatically upgrade the software to prevent it from being open to attacks.

Quick Tips for Spear Phishing Protection

Avoid clicking on scam emails.

• Consider cybersecurity a top priority.
• Make use of innovative, secure passwords.
• Instruct staff members never to disclose their passwords to anybody.
• Conduct routine training on security protection. Allow two-factor or multi-factor verification.
• Regularly fix your software and computer systems that keep them updated on security issues.

Conclusion

Due to the genuineness of spear-phishing emails, it is difficult to distinguish them, and the cybersecurity awareness program alone is insufficient for security. In addition, anti-phishing measures must be used to detect and stop planned spear phishing assaults. It is best to do it immediately before they approach a worker’s mailbox. The firm might be vulnerable to careless redirection to a website or viewing an infected file.