Given the current sate of world affairs and the possibility of cyber-attacks increasing knowledge of what to look for is key.

Email Practices – Think Before You Click

The most common way ransomware or malicious software enters corporate networks is through email. Often, scammers will include malicious links or attachments in emails that look harmless. To avoid this trap, please observe the following email best practices:

Do not click on links or attachments from senders that you do not recognize. Be especially wary of .zip or other compressed or executable (.exe, .vbs) file types.

Be wary of email that appears to come from a familiar person but asks for gift cards. Check the email address, often times they have odd gmail accounts instead of their usual work email.

Be wary of email that appears legit, but is asking you to click on a link to download an invoice or other documents that you are not expecting.

Be wary of email that appears to come from a delivery agent (UPS, FedEX, DHL, USPS), telling you about a package that you are not expecting and they want to schedule a delivery time. Do not click on links in these emails.

Do not provide sensitive personal information (like usernames and passwords) over email.

Watch for email senders that use suspicious or misleading domain names (@amazonnn.com)

Be especially cautious when opening attachments or clicking links if you receive an email containing a warning banner indicating that it originated from an external source.