If there was a handbook for cybercriminals, phishing emails would be on the first page. For years, hackers have been using these phony but believable messages to trick people into helping them. And the tactic still works. Phishing attacks rose by 11% and were the most common cause of corporate data breaches in 2020, Verizon found in its 2021 Data Breach Investigations Report.
The good news: It’s possible to avoid the vast majority of phony emails. You just need to know the telltale signs and the best ways to handle them. If you commit all of them to memory, you’ll be able to spot and outmaneuver phishing emails as they come in, keeping you secure and productive at work.