Malicious emails and cyber crime have cost organisations over £5 million in the last 13 months alone. Now, though, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) are offering their support, through the option of a single-click button that allows anyone to report dodgy communications directly to them.
Phishing email campaigns are rampant nowadays, as our weekly Neu Threats cyber security awareness bulletin points out. Unfortunately, the cyber criminals operating the scams are not holding back though, as the number of ransomware attacks so far in 2021 has exceeded the entire of 2020 already.
While the general public could already forward malicious emails to the NCSC’s Suspicious Email Reporting Service (SERS), it is hoped that the simplifying of the reporting process to just one click of a button will encourage more widespread use among users.
The NCSC’s Technical Director, Dr Ian Levy, said:
The pandemic has shown that cyber criminals will stop at nothing to attack and defraud businesses. Our Suspicious Email Reporting Service has also shown that the public can help us fight back against this scourge.
The new reporting button makes it easy for businesses using Microsoft 365 to enable their staff to report dodgy looking emails and further help combat cyber crime.”
Common phishing scams include business’ employees being tricked into downloading malware that looks like it comes from their IT support team. The email uses social engineering lures, such as spam email from trusted senders, to gain the trust of the recipient. They will believe the communication to be legitimate, and as a result, will be more likely to pass over account credentials.
Other types of scams include spoofed login pages, as well as emails containing fake alerts from common workplace software, such as Microsoft 365. Users should also beware of emails they receive that have PDF attachments as this could be another way in which cyber criminals are planting malicious malwares which can cause so much damage.
On the subject of cyber attacks, Martin Roberts, Neuways’ Managing Director, said:
Businesses are at risk of cyber attacks if they aren’t investing in their IT security. It is now as important as paying your electric bill, it’s not an optional extra, you’ve simply got to have it.
The real problem is that some of these cyber attacks aren’t ‘hacking’, in terms of technically breaking into systems. A lot of it is about social engineering and emailing a huge amount of people to trick them into clicking a link and downloading something malicious – it’s not technically sophisticated.
We welcome further ways of helping to prevent ransomware impacting upon businesses – such as the addition of this reporting tool.”
Businesses are at risk of cyber attacks if they aren’t investing in their IT security. It is now as important as paying your electric bill, it’s not an optional extra, you’ve simply got to have it. 
In July 2021, the average phishing case reported to the NCSC took four hours to be removed.
Sadly, cyber criminals will use every opportunity they can, to trick people into handing over their personal and financial details,” said Clinton Blackburn, temporary commander of the City of London Police.
Phishing messages provide criminals with a gateway to obtain this information, which they will then use to commit fraud.”
If you want to discuss your own business’ cyber security provisions and implementing the NCSC’s tool into your existing IT setup, contact Neuways on 01283 753 333 or email hello@neuways.com.
