Phishing attacks are a significant cybersecurity concern that can result in devastating losses for any company.

As minor as they may initially seem, cybersecurity services are witnessing the evolution of phishing schemes as they are turning more creative, more serious, and more destructive.

Moving into 2024, businesses must understand how today’s phishing attacks work and what can be expected in the future, then employ the right strategies to keep from becoming a victim.

How Do Cybersecurity Phishing Attacks Work?

Phishing attacks are a type of cybersecurity threat that prey on human interaction to activate a malicious code or infect a computer or network.

Initially done using deceptive emails that convince a user to access a malicious link, these attacks have increased in frequency, severity, and type as bad actors and technology have become more sophisticated, making phishing attacks harder to identify.

After a human recipient of a fraudulent email has clicked a malicious link or otherwise willingly provided some sensitive, requested information, that data is used to access networks, financial accounts, personal records, and more.

With access to this information, malicious actors can cause high levels of damage to a business, its employees, its customers, and even associated third parties.

What Future Do Cybersecurity Services See for Emerging New Phishing Attacks?

Over the evolution of phishing attacks, fraudulent emails have only been the very beginning.

Today, cybersecurity services additionally recognize smishing text attacks, vishing voicemail attacks, spearphishing attacks that target specific users, and even whaling attacks that target C-suite executives at large companies.

More recently, cybersecurity phishing attacks have become even more deceptive with the use of generative AI technology, social engineering, and deepfake technology using AI-generated voices.

Plus with the emergence of “phishing kits” to help bad actors run their schemes more easily and the continued growth of AI, it is expected that these attacks will become more frequent in the coming years.

How Can A Business Protect Against Phishing Attacks?

Regardless of how sophisticated new phishing attacks may become, they all require the same thing to succeed, namely an unsuspecting human.

Noting this, cybersecurity services stress the importance of employee training that teaches how to recognize suspicious emails as well as other fraudulent communications and who to report them to.

In addition, companies should implement 2-factor authentication on all of their applications and devices, use a secure email gateway (SEG), and utilize anti-phishing tools like cloud security services, URL filters, SOAR platforms, and others.

Work With An Experienced Cybersecurity Service To Avoid Phishing Attacks

Beyond the anti-phishing techniques suggested above, it is essential that companies also partner with an experienced cybersecurity service that can analyze their threat risk and help them deploy a suitable cybersecurity strategy.

As phishing attacks get increasingly more common and advanced, proper protection against them is one of the most important ways any business can protect its networks.

Contact a cybersecurity expert who can assist in preventing devastating losses with a good anti-phishing strategy today!