Phishing training, walked through slide by slide

Spot the phish is our security training on recognising phishing emails. The message here is simple: taking five minutes to learn what to look for, and what to do, helps protect the whole office, not just you.

Phishing is an email pretending to be someone you trust. That pretence is the important part: the email presents itself as a trusted message, but that is not what it is. It wants you to do something: click, give a password, or make a payment. Keep those requests in mind as you look at a message that appears to come from someone you trust.

Here are four warning signs to look for. Pressure is one: a message telling you to act now or lose access. A sender address that is almost right is another. Almost right is not the same as right, so check the address itself. Links that go somewhere unexpected are also a warning sign. Finally, watch for requests to pay or change bank details. Think of these as four things to check: the pressure, the sender, the link, and the payment request.

If you are not sure about an email, do not click or reply. You do not need to reply to the message to deal with that uncertainty. Instead, press Report phishing in your mail app. That is the action to take when you are unsure. Already clicked? Report it and change your password. The instruction here is still to report it, with a password change as well if you have already clicked.

Remember this short sequence when an email leaves you unsure. Stop. Check the sender. Report it. Those are the actions to take away from this training: pause rather than click, check who the message is from, and report it.