The message was sent to several assistants and support team members in a company’s legal department. It requested confidential information regarding recent company transactions. The email looked like it was from the company’s chief financial officer. It had her name spelled correctly and her auto signature was right, but the email address had one extra letter added to it when examined more closely.
One person on the email thought it was odd that the CFO would be emailing him and checked the email address against the company’s online directory. Sure enough, it wasn’t the CFO’s real email address.
At the same time, another employee on the email replied to all, including the phishing email perpetrator. Thankfully, they didn’t share anything useful to the bad guys in their reply, but it was a wake-up call for everyone on the importance of cyber security awareness and recognizing and reporting phishing and spear phishing attempts!
While this story has a happy ending, many do not. The higher the position you support in an organization, the more likely you are to be a target of phishing attempts.
Phishing and spear phishing scams – attempts to get personal information via fraudulent emails – are on the rise, and you and your executive could be a target. This week, we’re explaining more about these scams, the impact they can have on you, your executive, and organization, and how to avoid them on our Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn pages. Our feature article will also show you how to thwart phishing and spear phishing attempts.
As an admin, cyber awareness is your responsibility. The more you educate yourself, the easier it will be to recognize and prevent you, your company, and your organization from becoming victims of the next cyberattack!
Supporting your administrative success,
Julie Perrine
P.S. If you’re an outstanding and experienced admin, and you’ve put in a lot of time, effort, and hard work to make your company and executive a success, you’re likely ready to take on the role of the executive assistant. But what direction should you take in this new position? This AdminPro Training Series session can help. Register here.
