SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP)– The latest Anthem healthcare data breach has cybersecurity experts warning business owners to teach employees to be cautious of phishing email schemes.
Cybersecurity experts told 22news educating yourself and your staff, if you are a business owner, will be your best defense against hackers.
Chris Bovino of Northeast IT Systems told 22News that the hackers are not going away, and their schemes are getting more creative at trying to trick you.
He said to look out for email schemes commonly called “phishing emails,” which usually feature a professional-looking logo of the company they are claiming to be. Bovino also said a phishing email will often urge you to act quickly trying to scare you by saying that an account of yours, or your computer itself, has been compromised.
Bovino warns that phishing emails often come with a virus which could give the hacker access to your computer, and ultimately your personal data.
“When you look in your email, you want to be sure that the attachments that are coming in your email are legitimate. You want to be careful of anything with a .zip or .exe, those are usually pretty malicious,” Bovino said.
You can also know a phishing email from a real one by looking closely for typos and misspellings.
If you have a question about whether an email is real or a scheme, stop! Don’t open it or click on any attachments or links with in the email. Instead, pick up the phone and call the company in question. Be sure to use the phone number of the company that you have on record or looked up; not the one listed in the email.
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