Don’t Get Hooked: Effective Strategies To Combat Cloud Phishing Attacks

Did you know phishing is the most common cyber attack, with 3.4 billion malicious emails sent daily?

Among the various types of attacks we’re witnessing, cloud phishing is one common culprit with devastating results for businesses. It can lead to data breaches, identity theft, financial losses, reputation damage, and more.

Fortunately, being aware of cloud phishing, understanding its nature, and implementing effective strategies to guard against it can significantly aid in preventing these problems.

That’s precisely what we’ll cover in this blog. Armed with the right knowledge, you can take the appropriate steps to safeguard your business from these malicious scams.

What is a cloud phishing attack?

A cloud phishing attack is a type of cyber attack that targets cloud-based services and platforms.

In a cloud phishing attack, cybercriminals use various tactics to deceive users into revealing their credentials and personal or sensitive information about their cloud accounts.

These attacks exploit the trust users have in cloud services to gain unauthorised and privileged access to their cloud storage, files, and other associated resources.

Cloud phishing attack examples include:

• Deceptive communication: Attackers send emails, messages, or notifications that mimic genuine cloud service providers. These often use urgent language to prompt swift action.
• Fake login pages: Phishing messages may contain links to replica login pages or malicious websites mirroring real cloud services. These imitations match branding, layout, and URL structures to appear convincing.
• Credential harvesting: Users entering login details on fake pages unknowingly provide attackers access to their cloud accounts.

With this in mind, let’s look at effective strategies for combating cloud phishing attacks.

Strategies to combat cloud phishing attacks

Cyber security training

One of the simplest but most effective ways to stop your organisation from falling victim to a cloud phishing scam is by educating your employees about the risks.

This can involve organising training sessions and workshops, along with sending out email alerts. Doing this empowers your team to spot phishing emails and prevents them from getting caught in traps.

Remember, informed and alert employees are your first defence against these tricks.

Two-factor authentication

Implementing two-factor authentication (2FA) adds an extra layer of security to login credentials, making it harder for attackers to access user accounts even if they have obtained login credentials through phishing.

With 2FA, users need to provide a second piece of information, like a unique code sent to their phone, in addition to their password, adding a crucial extra level of protection.

Choose strong passwords

Choosing strong and unique passwords for your accounts is also vital to protect against hackers.

Tips for creating a strong password include:

• Combine numbers, letters, and symbols.
• Ensure it’s at least 12 characters in length.
• Avoid using common phrases like “password” or “123456.”
• Refrain from using personal information such as your name or birthdate.
• Use a password manager for generating and storing complex passwords.

Use email filters

Email filtering also plays a big part in safeguarding against cloud phishing attacks.

When you initiate email filtering technology, you can detect and prevent malicious emails from ever reaching your employees’ inboxes. Phishing email filters work by analysing suspected phishing emails for a number of red flags.

This includes suspicious sender addresses, mismatched URLs, and strange language patterns, all of which are associated with phishing attempts.

Email filtering acts as the first line of defence by intercepting and diverting these emails before they ever reach your inbox. This significantly reduces your chances of falling victim to cloud phishing scams.

Ensure regular updates

Maintaining the security of your digital ecosystem requires a vigilant approach, and one essential aspect is the regular updates of software, operating systems, and security tools.

By promptly applying updates, you proactively safeguard your systems against vulnerabilities that cyber attackers could exploit.

Tips for effective updates

• Automate updates: Many systems allow for automatic updates, ensuring you don’t miss critical patches.
• Prioritise critical updates: Focus on security-related updates that address known vulnerabilities.
• Test before applying: Before rolling out updates across your entire environment, test them in a controlled setting to ensure compatibility and functionality.
• Include third-party software: It’s not just your operating system that needs updating; third-party applications and plugins can also be exploited.

Select a secure cloud provider

Selecting secure cloud service providers is crucial in defending against cloud phishing campaigns. Opt for well-established and reputable providers known for their stringent security measures.

Trusted cloud providers prioritise security through various means:

• Encryption: Reputable providers use robust encryption methods to safeguard your data, making it difficult for unauthorised parties to access it.
• Authentication: They implement multi-factor authentication and access controls, ensuring only authorised personnel can access sensitive data.
• Regular audits: Rigorous security audits and assessments are performed to identify vulnerabilities and maintain compliance with industry standards.
• Incident response: They have robust incident response plans to address security breaches and minimise damage swiftly.
• Physical security: Physical data centres are well-protected with advanced security measures, reducing the risk of unauthorised access.

By entrusting your data to secure cloud providers, you’re moving proactively to defend against cloud phishing techniques and enhance the overall security posture of your business.

Overall, we know how cloud phishing scams can lead to data breaches, identity theft, financial losses, and business reputational harm.

Yet, with the right strategies in place, your business can fortify itself against the risks of these attacks.

By embracing these strategies, including using email filters, strong passwords, two-factor authentication, and a trusted cloud provider, you can stay vigilant and keep your organisation safe from the hooks of cloud phishing attacks.

Protect your data from cloud phishing attacks with BackupVault

At BackupVault, we specialise in delivering dependable data protection and cloud backup solutions for global businesses.

Our UK-based team employs Endpoint Detection & Response (EDR) to meticulously monitor data, safeguarding your business from phishing scams and diverse cyber threats. This EDR solution is powered by Huntress, a renowned authority in ransomware detection and defence.

Additionally, our vigilant 24/7 security team provides an additional layer of defence in the event of cloud data compromise. As a solution provider independent of any particular vendor, you have the flexibility to choose from reputable vendors that seamlessly align with your data protection objectives.

We offer four distinct Microsoft 365 backup options alongside solutions tailored for Google Workspace, Azure, Dynamics, AWS, servers, desktops, NAS devices, and more.

Feel free to reach out to us on 020 3397 5159 for more details on our EDR service or get started with a 14-day free software trial today.