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Don’t let the Equifax breach impact your email security
143 million new reasons why your business needs anti-phishing protection.
On September 7th, Equifax, one of the three major credit reporting agencies, reported a cybersecurity incident that could have potentially impacted up to 143 million Americans – that’s almost half of the US population. Criminals gained access to personal information such names, birth dates, addresses, Social Security numbers and in some cases even driver’s license numbers.
There are numerous ways fraudsters will look to profit from this breach. Individual pieces of personal information could be sold for a profit on the black market, with Social Security numbers and driver’s license information being particularly valuable. Another way to think about it is that there is now the potential of 143 million pieces of personal information up for sale – and these criminals are expecting a handsome payoff.
What does the Equifax breach have to do with my business?
Given the highly personal nature of information taken, the likelihood of it being used in target phishing attacks is very high. In fact, fraudsters have already set up hundreds of fake phishing sites impersonating Equifax, luring panicked consumers to ‘check if they were impacted’ to try and harvest more personal details.
In addition, criminals could target individuals whose identity they stole or impersonate those individuals for better-targeted spear-phishing attacks to spread ransomware, defraud other consumers and businesses like yours. Think about it. With this granular level of detail, cyber criminals are going to be able to write some extremely convincing, tailored emails that impersonate people the target knows. There will be lots of ways that criminals will try and use this information, but for many of them, gaining access to your company’s data will be the end goal.
Still think that getting anti-phishing protection might not be necessary for your business? Well, today there are 143 million new reasons why you need to take phishing seriously. Make sure that you have both the technology to protect your inboxes and an employee security education program in place to mitigate risks associated with targeted phishing attacks.
Get your businesses and employees protected, learn how Intermedia Email Protection can help.
