Welcome back! Today’s Cyber Scotland Week 2019 daily topic is Email Safety. As we’ve already explored, cyber criminals know that people can often be easier targets than devices – especially if they can be persuaded to give up their precious usernames and passwords. This is the entire purpose of phishing, and the reason that attackers are constantly improving their tactics in this area. After all, why waste time and effort breaking into a system when you can just convince an authorised user to hand over their login details?

We all lead busy lives and nobody can be expected to spot fraudulent emails 100% of the time – even experienced Information Security practitioners! However, there are some behaviours we can all adopt to make a successful phishing attack less likely – even if it’s simply a case of picking up the phone and checking before we complete an action. We also have advice on what to do if you receive a threatening email that seeks to extort money from you, and why it’s important to seek assistance if you think you may have mistakenly responded to a fraudulent email.

As always, if you have any questions about email safety – or any other aspect of Information Security – please get in touch. Tomorrow’s topic is Device Safety, we look forward to welcoming you back on Thursday!