Phishing emails in their many forms — spear phishing messages, business email compromise (BEC) and whaling attacks, etc. — remain a preeminent threat to organizations and individuals worldwide. The most viable path to preventing phishing scams from hitting their mark is to utilize a combination of technical safeguards (like spam filters and blacklists) and ongoing end-user security awareness training. Those who downplay the potential benefits of employee security training are forgetting that successful social engineering attacks rely on one common factor: human engagement.
It’s certainly true that not all cybersecurity awareness programs are cut of the same cloth. Phishing training programs like ours will help you increase awareness, improve knowledge retention, and change end-user behaviors — all of which will help you to lower your risk and improve your overall security posture. When these factors come into play, you extend your defenses to the desktop, and your users start to become gatekeepers; instead of having a “click now, ask questions later” mentality, they will begin to scrutinize and make informed decisions about questionable emails.
And then your end users will want to tell you about those emails and ask questions about them. Are you ready for those conversations?
PhishAlarm: One-Click Reporting of Suspicious Emails
Our PhishAlarm® email reporting tool is an email client add-in that allows your users to forward suspicious emails — with full headers — to the inbox(es) of your choice with a single mouse click. Instead of your helpdesk technicians (or, even more challenging, your one-man crew) having to field phone calls and provide instructions over and over again, employees can use PhishAlarm to quickly and consistently report potentially threatening emails to your response team.
PhishAlarm is a free component of our ThreatSim® simulated phishing product, so it helps you to capitalize on the infosec training you are delivering to your end users. Your employees can apply what they’ve learned to identify and report suspected phishing emails. This is a valuable addition to any security awareness and training program, as early reporting of suspicious emails can dramatically reduce the duration and impact of an active phishing attack.
But are you ready and able to research and prioritize all of those reported emails?
PhishAlarm Analyzer: Faster Prioritization, More Effective Response
Launched in early 2016, PhishAlarm Analyzer is an optional software-based companion to PhishAlarm that helps infosec teams make faster, more informed decisions about reported emails. This email analysis tool uses machine learning techniques to identify and prioritize all reported messages, allowing members of your security response team to focus their attention on the most pressing phishing threats on your network.
The PhishAlarm Analyzer software takes the research and analysis burden off of remediation teams by scanning reported messages for indicators of compromise, prioritizing those emails (as Likely a Phish, Suspicious, or Unlikely a Phish), and providing an HTML report with each message that responders can use to take quick and decisive action to shut down an attack.
PhishAlarm Analyzer provides a quicker path to remediation and a more effective use of infosec assets — a win-win to be sure. You can read more about the features of this product on our website.
Maximize the Results of Your Anti-Phishing Training
No tool — technical or otherwise — will take your risk to zero, simply because there is no way to eliminate risk entirely (just ask any insurance salesperson). As such, shifting your focus from risk prevention to risk management is a sage move. When you partner with Wombat, you partner with a proven leader in anti-phishing training. Tap into our experience and expertise, and we’ll help you tap into the benefits of informed end-user behaviors.
