Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Safeguard your School against Phishing Attacks




The most effective and oldest form of online threat is a Phishing attack. It is one of the tools used by cybercriminals to obtain access to personal as well as professional data or information of the organizations or an individual. As technology became more sophisticated, so as phishing attacks too. Almost all organizations irrespective of the industry type are facing the heat. Cybercriminals wait for just one small mistake and they are into your systems.

As we said, phishing attacks are an area of concern for all. Schools are also under cybercriminal surveillance. As more and more schools are becoming tech-savvy and deploying advance school management systems to run parallel to technological advancements, it is opening the gates for some unwanted guests too. Every innovation comes with residual threats that can be used by any malicious person or system to gain access and privileges in an unauthorized manner.

As almost all systems in this world are connected with the internet, it makes an easy gateway for these phishing threats to spread. Although all organizations have implemented network security measures to counter them still just one small mistake or loophole and they are in.

Today schools are the most vulnerable piece for these cyber criminals because staff and teachers who access school database management systems are not trained enough to identify threats and handle & implement cybersecurity procedures effectively.

Skugal Technology Pvt. Ltd., who offers school management software in Delhi explains some common type of phishing threats and associated solutions that can be easily deployed in schools

What Is Phishing Attack?
In a Phishing attack, bait is used by cybercriminals to lure the vulnerable targets, with which they gain access to sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, bank, and credit card details. The attacker generally uses either emails or instant messaging services like SMS, WhatsApp, etc. to interpret as a trustworthy entity. Once the confidence is built, the user is re-directed towards a malicious duplicate URL or webpage that has a similar look and feel to the original webpage. Most of the easy targets are not able to distinguish the duplicacy and give away the information in the requisite forms.

Most Common Types of Phishing Attacks
·         Clone Phishing
·         Whaling
·         Spear Phishing
·         Bulk Phishing

How Schools can be Protected from Phishing Attacks?
·         Always verify the URLs.
·         Verify the authenticity of the Email sender.
·         Do not share your personal as well as professional data on any site.
·         Always use 2-factor authentications.
·         Always use antivirus software.
·         Train your staff and faculty on the latest phishing threats.
·         Monitor your incoming & outgoing web traffic.
·         Always use a licensed operating system and software.

If you are also looking out for the best school ERP software, the do check school software solutions by Skugal.