80% of emails received every day are spam and viruses and an employee spends an average of 40 minutes a day sorting emails.
No need to say more; it’s a real waste of time every day. And when, in addition, spammers use your identity (so-called spoofing), the situation is critical!
What is digital spoofing?
Digital spoofing, also known as spoofing, involves sending emails pretending to be someone else. Spammers hide their identity by using an email address known to the recipient in order to deceive them and send them spam or viruses. They also use this technique to phish or “spear phish”: they target employees to access sensitive data such as bank accounts or to divert funds. Acts that may damage the reputation of a company or a natural person.
What does a classic case of spoofing look like?
It’s very simple: you receive an email from a trusted person (colleague, friend, banker, telephone operator, business site, social network, etc.) in which distorted information is hidden. These are often phishing attempts (to recover your personal data, your bank details, your identification codes, etc.) or the simple desire to send you fraudulent emails (spam, virus-infected attachments, etc.). If you don’t recognise the situation and fall into the trap by clicking on the links, opening the attachments or responding to the email, then you can suffer serious personal or professional consequences.
What are the consequences?
One thing is certain: the data is collected for dishonest purposes: hacking, money transfer, computer attack with ransom demand or other.
When attachments are buried in these emails, don’t open them. The spoofers use such techniques to attach viruses and hope that they will spread to the recipient’s workstation. They can then ask you for a hefty amount of money in return! This can be detrimental to your image and that of your business. Or more seriously, put it in serious danger due to lost data and potentially the loss of money.
Email fraud, especially spoofing, continues to grow and is one of the biggest threats today.
Some advice? Don’t wait to protect yourself from this type of attack…