Eliminate Phishing With Secure File Sharing for Business

How secure is your business? There's a good chance that it isn't as secure as you may think. According to research, companies in the United States are more vulnerable to phishing attacks:

• Most U.S. organizations have been victims of phishing — 74% of organizations have experienced a data breach in the last 12 months due to a successfully executed phishing attack. 
• The U.S. takes the lead in phishing attacks — The U.S. leads the nations in data breaches related to phishing in 2021, reaching rates that are 30% higher than the global average and 14% than the year before. 
• Kaizen has the solution! — Don't hesitate to make your file sharing more secure and keep your business protected. Kaizen will protect your files with the top security features in the industry without disrupting workflow!

Here's how secure file sharing for business will eliminate your risks of phishing.  

WHAT IS PHISHING?

Phishing can come in several forms and includes any activity where an individual pretends to be someone they're not to obtain personal information and use it to their advantage (i.e., stealing credit card numbers to make illegal purchases, taking money out of bank accounts, targeting your HR personnel, etc.). 

Specifically for business, phishing is most often a cybercrime associated with posing as an official in an organization to extract sensitive information to be used to breach company databases.

Types of phishing schemes can include:

• Email 
• Fake websites
• Vishing (voice phishing)
• Smishing (SMS phishing), and more.

Emails are particularly problematic in cases of file sharing because the crime can start with retrieving the credentials of a current employee and using their email to access the entire staff. According to Phishing.org, you are likely being phished if it sounds too good to be true, there's an odd sense of urgency, suspicious hyperlinks, attachments that don't make sense, and an unknown sender. 

PHISHING ATTACKS BY THE NUMBERS

Every business wants to believe that it will never happen to them, but it often will. Unless you're taking all the proper precautions necessary to prevent phishing, it is a substantial risk for your company. 

In fact, the numbers just may surprise you enough to take action. 

According to Verizon, 25% of all data breaches throughout organizations involve phishing, with 85% of those breaches involving a human element. If your team is not prepared to defend against those attacks and recognize phishing when it happens, you could be among the 74% of organizations that experienced a phishing attack in 2021. 

An IBM report suggests that attackers are keeping pace with changes in techniques and defensive mechanisms to trick employees into handing over sensitive data that would allow them to breach the company's database. 

It raises an important question — what will these attacks cost your company?

Reports suggest an annual average cost of phishing to be around $1,500 per employee, which can quickly become disastrous for large and even medium-sized enterprises.

HOW ARE YOU SHARING FILES?

By now, sharing files has become an essential part of everyday business. It centralizes information, allowing everyone to access files without the headache of running around the office or meeting in one room to complete the task. 

It is, however, very dangerous if not done safely and securely. But what is safe and secure?

First, let's start with what isn't considered secure file sharing. A file-sharing method that only requires a single sign-on for team members to access is NOT secure. This includes many frequently used services, such as G-Suite and Office 365 (unless you adopt two-factor authentication).

On the other hand, secure file sharing will feature the following:

• An encrypted connection 
• Two or more steps for security verification
• Password-protected links and files
• Secure access to the cloud

HOW TO PROMOTE SECURE FILE SHARING

If you are persistent in keeping the same systems, you can take specific steps to educate your employees about file sharing best practices. Infosec experts cited the following on Digital Guardian as some of the most important best practices to consider when preventing phishing attacks:

• Conduct training sessions that imitate common phishing scenarios and educate your staff on how to handle the situation appropriately.
• Encrypt all your sensitive company information.
• Utilize spam filters — most can be enabled to identify suspicious senders and prevent emails from even reaching your staff's inbox. 

However, adopting a secure file-sharing system is the best way to improve security and prevent phishing attacks before they even reach your team members. This is especially true for the many companies that have gone remote for some workers.

Consider a secure file-sharing system with these features:

• Additional authentication before logging in 
• End-to-end encryptions
• Automated file syncing
• Control over public sharing

PROTECT YOUR BUSINESS FROM PHISHING WITH KAIZEN

Shocking statistics reveal that only 14% of small businesses consider their preventative actions towards cyber risks and attacks highly effective, and another 47% admit to not knowing much about protecting themselves against these attacks. Kaizen can both help protect your company's sensitive data and connect you with the latest best practices for prevention. 

We work diligently to provide clients with nothing but the best that automation can offer. Our accounting, tax, and payroll systems will allow you to sleep well at night, knowing that your HR needs are being met efficiently while your information is secure. 

Contact us for more information on the importance of secure file sharing for business and how Kaizen can ensure your business is protected!