Almost every week we hear about our clients getting hit with phishing emails and it is scary. Phishing attacks can target anyone, no matter how secure their systems may seem. According to the Sophos Ransomware 2024 report, 59% of companies were hit with ransomware this year, and that number continues to rise. Even organizations that follow security best practices aren’t immune to email hacking, making it essential to stay vigilant with proactive monitoring and rapid response capabilities. In this blog post, we’ll share the true story of one of our clients who recently faced such a threat.
How One Client Got Phished: A True Story
As part of celebrating our Waident’s 20th anniversary, we’ve been visiting many of our clients. These visits have been a fantastic opportunity to connect face-to-face and strengthen relationships. But one visit this year turned out to be much more than I anticipated—it became a real-life lesson in cybersecurity.
Phishing Attack: How It Began
It started like any other client visit: a great conversation, treats, feedback and planning. Shortly after, I got back in the car with my colleagues and began the drive back to the office that’s when things took a strange turn.
About 15 minutes into the drive, I received an email from the lady whom I just met at the client’s office. The email seemed legit and came from her real email address. I truly just met the lady, so it seemed appropriate that she would be sending me correspondence and not out of the blue. Inside the email, however, there was a link to a Dropbox file with a note asking me to review it and let her know what I thought. My initial reaction was that she must have taken some photos at the event and wanted to share them. That tracks, right? But then, a little voice in my head told me something was off. She hadn’t mentioned anything about sending a file during our meeting, and it seemed out of the blue.
Decoding the Red Flags: What to Look for in a Suspicious Email
I didn’t want to jump to conclusions, so I sent a quick reply asking if she had indeed sent the file. Almost immediately, I got a response back: “Yes, it’s legitimate. Go ahead and check it out.” But this second email raised more red flags. The tone of the message felt odd, and there was no signature at the bottom—something I hadn’t noticed earlier. The email address was correct, but my instincts told me this wasn’t quite right.
At this point, I was torn. On the one hand, I didn’t want to offend this client by implying that something might be wrong with her email. After all, we had just met, and I didn’t want to come across as paranoid or annoying. But on the other hand, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was very wrong. So, I decided to give her a call.
I’m glad I did.
Red Flags:
- Incorrect Email address
- Unnatural tone
- Spelling mistakes
- Sense of urgency
- No previous agreement to send out the link
- Incorrect email signature
Phishing Attack Resolution
When I reached her, she was surprised and confused—she hadn’t sent me anything at all. It quickly became clear that her email account had been hacked, and the hacker was attempting to use her account to phish me along with the other contacts. The situation could have spiraled out of control, but thanks to our quick action, Waident was able to step in immediately, secure her account, and kick the hacker out before any real damage was done.
This experience was a reminder of just how sophisticated cybercriminals have become. Even clients who follow all the best practices, like this one, can still fall victim to these attacks. Hackers can strike at any time, and their tactics can be difficult to spot, even for seasoned professionals.
Key Preventive Measures on How to Avoid Email Phishing Attacks:
- Trust Your Instincts: If something feels off, it probably is. Don’t ignore that gut feeling when an email doesn’t seem quite right.
- Verify Before You Act: Always double-check with the sender before clicking on links or opening attachments, even if the email appears legitimate.
- Don’t Hesitate to Pick Up the Phone: In this case, a simple phone call made all the difference. Yes, it can feel awkward or uncomfortable, but it’s better to confirm than to risk falling victim to a phishing attack.
- Be Prepared: While it’s impossible to stop every attack, having the right cybersecurity measures in place can help mitigate damage and recover quickly. In this case, our team was able to act swiftly and protect the client from potential loss.
How could this attack have been avoided? There is no magic protocol.
How to make it more difficult for a hacker to get into your system:
- Implement Security Awareness Training: The First Line of Defense Against Phishing. Human error is the weakest link in cybersecurity. Training your team to recognize red flags across email, phone, or in-person interactions is your strongest defense against phishing.
- Install Advanced Spam Filtering: Enhancing Protection Against Phishing. While spam filters catch many threats, they are not foolproof. Continuous training ensures your team can recognize what slips through.
- Implement Multi-Layered Security: Critical for Phishing Attack Defense. Solutions like Managed Detection and Response (MDR), logging and monitoring, and Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) provide critical safeguards to detect and stop attacks in real time.
- Use Waident’s Security Essentials Plus: Comprehensive Defense Against Phishing. It offers robust alerting and essential security training to keep your organization ahead of emerging threats.
Email hacking is a growing problem, and it can happen to anyone, regardless of how prepared or vigilant they are. This incident is just one example of how important it is to remain vigilant and have the right protocols in place to respond quickly when things go wrong.
Had the hacker succeeded in staying longer in their environment, the client might have faced major data breaches, financial losses, or reputational damage—a risk that’s avoidable with prompt action.
Silver lining: trust your gut, don’t be afraid to double-check and be security smart!
Dig Deeper into Phishing: Check out our Guide on the types of Phishing.
