As part of October’s Hazard of the Month, IT, we’re highlighting two key areas: Fraud Prevention & Phishing Awareness.
Fraud Prevention
Fraud costs UK businesses over £157 billion every year, and with digitalisation ever increasing in the workplace, there are always new fraud risks and techniques.
Some current prevalent fraud risks to businesses include:
- Increased digitalisation – in many cases there is no option but to interact with other businesses and customers solely online
- Uptick in digital identities – an increase in accounts created by customers can make it difficult for organisations to know who they’re actually dealing with
- Outdated technology – if your business is using out of date tech, you are more susceptible to fraudulent attacks as you are not benefitting from the latest security updates
- Generative AI – AI has been adopted as a fraudulent tool in order to create highly personalised and convincing scams
The keys ways to prevent fraud in your business include:
- Knowing your customer inside out
- Implementing fraud risk scores
- Creating a multi-layered approach
- Continually undertaking fraud checks
- Getting your customers involved
- Adopting AI and machine learning in fraud prevention
Learn more about protecting your business from fraud with our Fraud Prevention Online Training Course. Get 10% off this course with the code ‘info10’!
Phishing Awareness
Regardless of the size or type of your business, you will likely encounter phishing attempts at some point. These attacks may try to deceive you or your employees into transferring money, accessing sensitive company information, or issuing threats.
By following these guidelines, you can learn to recognise and prevent some of the most common phishing attacks:
Review your online presence:
- Is there excessive information on your website or social media that could be exploited by scammers?
- Check what details your partners, contractors, and suppliers share publicly.
- Help employees manage their personal online profiles.
Recognise phishing red flags:
- Poor spelling, grammar, or punctuation.
- Failure to address you by name.
- Contains urgent threats, pressuring you to act quickly.
- Unusual requests, such as a senior executive asking for an unexpected payment.
Strengthen account security:
- Enable two-factor authentication on all key accounts.
- Limit employee access by assigning the minimum user rights needed for their roles, reducing potential damage from a breach.
Encourage reporting of phishing incidents:
- Ensure employees know they can ask for help if they suspect they’ve fallen for a scam.
- Make the reporting process clear and accessible.
- Avoid penalising employees for being victims of phishing attacks.
Learn more about protecting your business from phishing attacks with our Phishing Awareness Online Training Course. Get 10% off this course with the code
‘info10’!
Fraud Prevention and Phishing Awareness are essential tools in protecting your business from cyber and financial threats. Make sure you don’t miss out on our 10% off deal on these courses, available until the end of September. Simply enter the code ‘info10’ at checkout to save!
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