How Small Businesses Can Help Protect Their Customers from Phishing

Phishing is a particularly devious form of Internet scam. Consumers are the target for “phishers” who trick them into divulging sensitive personal information such as their credit- or debit-card account numbers and personal identification numbers (PINs), by making bogus offers using spoof emails and fake Websites. Phishing leads to identity theft.

One of the reasons phishing is so successful is that the emails link the victim to official-looking Web sites where the attackers use images, logos, and text taken from genuine companies' sites to make the bogus offer appear legitimate.

Phishing is often carried out on a grand scale, targeting hundreds of thousands of consumers at a time. Some attacks can involve more than a million phishing emails. Depending on the scam, response levels can be as low as 1% or as high as 20%. With the huge numbers involved, the potential financial rewards can be phenomenal.

There are a few simple steps that consumers can take to avoid getting caught by a phishing scam. The most immediate of these is to check that the Web address (the URL) is the same as the real company's. If it is not, they should be suspicious and checked further before releasing any personal information.

As standard forms of identity verification are unlikely to change in the short term (e.g., Social Security numbers and mother's maiden name), it will still be necessary to divulge this kind of information. Inform your customers that it would be wise to adopt the following rules for protection:

• Use spam detectors to block malicious or fraudulent
  emails
• Use filters to automatically detect and delete malicious software
• Employ software to block outgoing delivery of sensitive information to malicious parties
• Implement good quality anti-virus, filtering, and anti-spam software solutions like McAfee^® Total Protection for Small Business

Businesses can also help to protect their customers by:

• Handling customers' personal information with extreme care
• Shredding any documents that contain customers' personal data
• Establishing policies for email content
• Providing a way for customers to validate emails
• Establishing strong authentication at Websites
• Regularly monitoring the Internet for potential phishing Websites
• Provide safe and secure ecommerce and online transaction services with McAfee^® Hacker Safe certification

Phishing differs from traditional scams primarily in the scale of the fraud that can be committed. Awareness and education is a major first step in preventing identity theft. Your customers will appreciate your assistance in protecting them.