How to Spot Suspicious or Fraudulent Emails

by Jacob Acker | Oct 16, 2023 | Email, Phishing

What safety precautions to take if you receive a fraudulent email…

In an age where phishing attempts and fraudulent emails are prevalent, it’s crucial to know how to identify these threats. Here are some quick tips to help you stay safe in your inbox:

1. Check the Sender’s Email Address

Examine the sender’s email address closely. Be cautious if it seems unusual or doesn’t match the official domain of the organization they claim to represent.

2. Look for Misspelled Sender Names

Scammers often use sender names that resemble legitimate ones but contain subtle misspellings. Pay attention to these details.

3. Hover Over Links

Don’t click on links immediately. Instead, hover your mouse pointer over them to preview the destination. Ensure the URL matches the legitimate website.

4. Verify the Domain

Check the email’s domain to confirm it’s valid. Fraudulent emails may use domains that are slightly altered from the real ones.

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Streamlining Your Communication Setup: Holiday Edition

by Jacob Acker | Jun 15, 2023 | Email, VoIP

Mastering Holiday Communication: Simple Steps for Seamless Connections

As professional workers, maintaining effective communication during holiday weekends or holidays is crucial. To ensure a smooth workflow and uninterrupted communication, it’s essential to set up email forwards, auto responders, temporary voicemail greetings, and call forwarding. Let’s explore how to do this efficiently.

1. Email Forwards: a. Redirect incoming emails to colleagues or designated team members. b. Keep recipients informed about your forwarding arrangement in your autoresponder. c. Set clear expectations for response times during the holiday period.

2. Auto Responders: a. Craft a concise autoresponder message informing senders about your unavailability. b. Mention the specific dates of your absence and provide an alternative contact if necessary. c. Express gratitude for their understanding and patience.

3. Temporary Voicemail Greetings: a. Record a temporary voicemail greeting reflecting your absence. b. Clearly state the duration of your absence and an alternative contact method if needed. c. Inform callers that their messages will be attended to promptly upon your return.

4. Call Forwarding: a. Divert incoming calls to a trusted colleague or an answering service. b. Ensure the forwarding setup is seamless, avoiding disruptions in customer service. c. Notify clients or customers about the temporary call forwarding arrangement in advance.

By appropriately setting up email forwards, auto responders, temporary voicemail greetings, and call forwarding, professional workers can ensure smooth communication during holiday weekends or holidays. Implementing these strategies enables you to maintain professional connections while enjoying your well-deserved time off. Remember to communicate your availability and provide alternative contacts to keep everyone informed.

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5 Things to do Right Now to Prevent a Ransomware Attack

by Jacob Acker | May 11, 2021 | Cyberattacks, Email, Ransomware

1. GET A BACKUP AND DISASTER RECOVERY SOLUTION

In today’s world, backing up your data may seem easy, but if you attempt to restore it yourself, you may risk downtime, man hours, resources, and many other factors. By creating a disaster recovery plan, you have a concrete solution in place to ensure these negative situations don’t occur.

If a ransomware attack does occurs, but you’ve backed up your data, you’ll rest easy knowing that there’s a solution moving forward.

You may run into situations like Colonial Pipeline Co.’s (CPC) recent ransomware attack. Cyber criminals locked everything, threatened to leak it to the internet, and shut their entire business down. They requested a ransom of $200,000 to $2 million.

👉 Need your data backed up? We’re here to help.

2. INVEST IN SECURITY AWARENESS TRAINING

Ultimately, hackers rely on the “human element” more than any other factor to gain access to your information. Meaning, when one of your employees clicks on a link they shouldn’t, that’s the best time for hackers to act.

Of course, no one has the intention of doing so; however, they probably don’t think as seriously about IT security as you may.

Investing in security awareness training will help create a culture of vigilant employees working to identify and avoid malicious links, phishing emails, and dangerous behavior.

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PROTECT YOURSELF FROM RANSOMWARE

3. FILTER YOUR EMAILS

Learning to prevent phishing is one of the most important ways to protect yourself from a ransomware attack since most ransomware is distributed through email.

Implementing an anti-spam filter is one of the most efficient ways of filtering out any potential unsafe and unwanted emails.

Watch out for business email compromise, don’t click ads, keep an eye out, and always check the sender’s domain.

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4. INSTALL ANTIVIRUS AND NEXT GENERATION FIREWALL

Installing an antivirus protects your endpoints (computers, servers, etc.) and your firewall protects your entire network by filtering incoming and outgoing network traffic based on your organization’s security policies. Having these pieces in place will prevent your risk of ransomware attack.

5. TAKE YOUR PROTECTION AGAINST RANSOMWARE TO THE NEXT LEVEL

If you want to make sure that your disaster recovery plan is correct, that your firewall is top-of-the-line, and that your employees are well-trained to avoid getting phished in the first place, then you should consider working with a proven IT security company.

We’ll help you find the solutions that match your budget and requirements – ensuring you pay for the correct amount of security you need. Then, we’ll analyze your current security measures and suggest ways of improving.