Teleworkers,
watch out for phishing attempts!

An increase in computer phishing attempts has been noted in recent days. Although we cannot yet make a link between this increase and the current health crisis, we may think that the current situation forcing thousands of workers into working remotely may appear to be a real opportunity for hackers.

This may be especially true since most corporate IT systems were not prepared for the sudden need in remote working of all of their employees.

What are hackers looking for?

Phishing attempts usually come in the form of an email message from an organization or someone you know and trust. The goal is to push you to do one of these actions:

• click on a link;
• open a document;
• install software on your device;
• enter your login information (username and password) on a website designed to appear identical to the original.

Here are some examples of the types of phishing emails you may receive:

• You are invited to validate your account by clicking on a following link;
• You are informed that there is a problem with your current account;
• You are threatened with a particular measure (for example, the closure of your account) if you do not respond.

Advice for how to avoid phishing scams

Whether you are working remotely or at the office, you will undoubtedly face an attempt of this type at one time or another. While there are no quick fixes to avoid it, some basic checks should always be done when you receive an email:

• Check the sender’s email address
  Whether the email is from a colleague, business, or institution, take a look at the address. It is very easy to create a fake address that is similar to a real one by simply adding or removing letters. If you have doubts, do not click on any link that is provided and contact the sender via other means to verify the legitimacy of the email.
• Check that the content of the message does not contain any spelling or formatting errors.
• Check the legitimacy of the link by placing the tip of your cursor on it to bring up the address. If it does not match that of the website or company in mention then do not click on the link. In general, avoid clicking on a link in an email, instead open your internet browser and type the address of the site you want to visit.
• Use a password manager with automatic entry. This will allow the program to save all login information and thus it will recognize when you’re being directed to a false login page. If the program refuses your password, then you can be sure it is a scam.
• Enter your login details and passwords only on secure websites. To do this, make sure that the prefix “https” is present in front of the address of a site, this will mean that you are on a secure site. If the prefix does not contain “s”, do not enter your confidential information.
• Do not enter login information when connected to a public Wi-Fi network.
• Keep your software up to date. Your software will regularly send update notifications to make sure that the security level is always at its highest.

And of course, never pass on your login information to a third party. All login information is to be kept personal and private.

Should you still have any doubts after these basic checks, contact your organization’s IT and security department.

What to do to detect fraud when receiving email attachments.

For those who regularly receive attachments from people they may not know (i.e. Journalists, bloggers etc.) it is not always clear to tell if the document is safe or not.

In these cases, do not double-click the document or downloaded file. Instead, upload it to your Google Drive or another online document viewer. This will turn the document into an image or HTML and will almost certainly prevent it from installing malware on your device.

Warning for those who are teleworking

Most companies require their employees to access the company servers via a secure VPN key. Although the VPN connections and anti-virus protection tools that are installed by your organization are secure, we recommend that you still follow a few simple guidelines when working remotely:

1. Use only tools or sites that are related to your work. For example, personal emails (live, Gmail, etc.) should not be opened on workstations provided by your organization, since your protection tools may not be adequate.
2. Do not lend your work station to a family member.
3. Make sure you are on private WiFi and that it is secured with a password
4. Always be sure that your computer systems are up to date.

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