ORGANISATIONS

MUST CONTINUALLY IMPROVE THEIR AUTOMATED DETECTION

AND RESPONSE CAPABILITIES .

Essentially an all-in-one ‘ starter-pack ’ for planning , setting up and launching a phishing attack , phishing kits provide attackers with all the tools they need and are accessible via a simple search on the Dark Web . Moreover , they are low cost , with the average phishing kit costing just US $ 70 , and because these kits are not sophisticated or highly technical tools , even amateur criminals can use them quickly and easily . All these factors increase the likelihood that an SME will be targeted by an email phishing attack .

In fact , SMEs are particularly vulnerable to phishing attacks because they often lack the dedicated security team that you find within larger organisations . Without this consistent protection , SMEs are at higher risk from attackers who view them as easier targets . If phished successfully , not only do cybercriminals have access to credentials within an organisation , but they can go on to use that access to launch further attacks targeting the organisation or its supply chain .

Security Awareness Training ( SAT ) is a common and often mandated step to increase a SMEs technological defence . SAT teaches employees to recognise the basic signs of a phishing attack , such as spelling errors , incorrect logos and inconsistent font size . By including all employees and educating them on their importance within defence , an SME can establish a culture of security .

SAT programmes aim to make users less ‘ phishable ’ and usually leads to users having the tools and workflows to report suspicious emails to the company ’ s helpdesk or security staff for analysis . However , this subsequently leads to an increase in the number of email alerts that already burdened SME security teams must investigate .

SAT alone will never be enough to keep increasingly sophisticated phishing attacks at bay because humans are fallible , and a single phishing email fooling just one employee can be enough to facilitate a SMEs demise .

Email attacks are often successful because an employee is distracted as opposed to ignorant . Therefore , organisations must continually improve their automated detection and response capabilities to reduce the reliance on employees to spot and report phishy emails .

Third-party secure email gateways and native cloud security capabilities were designed to block spam and other wellknown or readily detected threats . Today ’ s targeted phishing , business email compromise and ransomware attacks easily evade these technologies .

A fact well-supported by outages and financial losses constantly making headlines . Clearly then , a different strategy is needed and the solution for organisations , SMEs included , is to implement a resilient , layered security strategy .

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