User Education to Protect Your Network

As more tactics and threats hit the mainstream, it’s more important than ever to ensure your least patcheable resource is secure – your employees.  Gone are the days when websites that contain malware are obvious. Being vigilant on the websites your users visit is imperative to keeping your network secure. Email attachments are fairly obvious now, but websites pose another, more discrete, risk. Here are a few pointers for your staff to ensure their safe when visiting websites:

• Does the site look weird? Is the color off? Is the logo grainy or distorted? These are signs of a malicious site posing as a legitimate one.
• Did you get to the website through an email or a social media site? Click-bait headlines are still all the rage, but it’s always better to type in the URL in the browser instead of clicking through the link as presented just to make sure you’re going to a legitimate site.
• Is a site you’ve visited in the past now asking for personal information it didn’t before? This could mean that you’re visiting a fake version of a legitimate site, particularly if you clicked through a link from email or social media.
• For secure sites, does it have HTTPS in the address bar? Most browsers will also display a lock icon around the address bar to indicate the site is secure.

Partek can train your employees on what to look for online and in emails to ensure they are knowledgeable to the latest threats and scams.