During tax time, managed IT services providers in Austin need to remind their clients that it’s a season for hacking confidential W-2 information. The more personal information a hacker can collect, such as social security numbers, the better chance at profiting from stolen information. Here are ways to work with IT professionals to protect your data:
Educating Employees About Phishing Attacks
Many cyberattacks are the result of employee negligence. Clicking an attachment within an email sent by a hacker is a common way networks become infected. The way a hacker fools an employee is to pose as a familiar vendor or business colleague. Hackers look for companies that have weak security policies, since that’s an easy way to steal valuable confidential data that they can sell to other cybercriminals.
An example of such a phishing attack is when a hacker sends what appears to be a legitimate email that asks the recipient to sign in to their account. The unsuspecting user then gives their password to the hacker, not realizing it’s a fake login page. Imagine if a hacker posed as an employer or HR representative and asked the employee to send them a scanned photo of their W-2 form for their electronic files. Such a request would be an instant red flag to employees who are trained to be on the lookout for phishing attacks.
Phishing scams rely more on employee ignorance than on technology to penetrate a system and steal information. Then unleashing malware can cause even more damage. Malware can spread to other computers, damaging hardware and locking up software. Scammers commonly try to create a sense of urgency and may even mark the email as “urgent” so that employees react on emotion instead of logic.
Keys to Protecting Confidential Information
Your managed IT services team in Austin can make life difficult for cybercriminals by adopting strong security strategies. Companies that don’t pay attention to security and assume it’s something that just happens to unlucky small businesses that can’t afford antivirus software are among the most vulnerable. You should never assume that any system is bulletproof, as it’s much safer to implement multiple layers of security, such as the following:
- Avoid sharing confidential information through email
- Before opening, hover over email links with a mouse, which will display the sender’s actual address and make sure it’s consistent
- Investigate unexpected emails and strange online requests
Additionally, your IT team can test your employees to make sure they are taking the proper steps to ensure emails come from legitimate sources. They can use special software that tracks users on your network to identify and block intruders. If your company uses a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy, then it is very crucial to use monitoring software that can divide mobile devices into corporate and personal partitions. Using mobile device management (MDM) software, IT officials can remotely wipe the corporate section if the device is ever lost or stolen.
Conclusion
Hackers prey upon vulnerable companies, especially during tax season. Using a high-quality managed IT services provider in Austin, along with modern security strategies, is the key to protecting your network. Contact us at Contigo Technology to learn more about how we can make your business technology safer against the growing problem of cybercrime.