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isn’t it ironic that legit emails from coworkers or even the upper echelons of the company – contain links and attachments – that you are SUPPOSED to click on – and they arrive so often that those actions become habitual – in other words – the company is TRAINING you to do the bad thing – they do it so well that it becomes a reflex – and with hackers becoming more sophisticated about creating convincing emails – it’s hard not to click instead of investigate first

here’s a solution that i’ve never heard mentioned – the company should prohibit links or attachments in company emails – instead links and files should be put in a secure folder on the company network – and emails should have instructions to find the files or links in that folder 

Examples:

“Look for filename Portfoilio1234.doc in the company folder.“

“Click on link 5678 in the links list in the company folder.“

hopefully – employees will have manually selected the company’s URL and logged into the company network – so that they and the company can be assured they are accessing the intended files and links

think of it – no more links in company emails – no more attachments in company emails – employees will then be trained to avoid links and attachments in emails – even in their personal email – and reduce the chances of activating malware overall

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online services – such as banks – medical services – retailers – etc – should NOT BABY customers – rather then inserting links in emails to nudge the customer to the target page – such services should instruct the customers to log in the old fashioned way – manually go to the URL (either by typing or selecting a bookmark they created) – and once there – manually login – (using a reliable password manager would substitute fine for this process)

those emails should include a text code for the customer to copy to their clipboard – which can be pasted into an input field on the company landing page – which should send the customer to the webpage with the information or documents intended for the customer

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to the end user – quit being babied

don’t click any links to banks and businesses that you frequent – that’s how malicious people drill a tunnel between their server and your computer – thru which they grab whatever they want – or pass malware into your computer

you should have those banks and businesses bookmarked – so when one of those companies sends you a link in an email – you can instead click on your bookmark – and search for the page they want you to go to

this is the same with phone calls that send you ominous warnings – don’t dial the number they give you – dial the company directly – if it has to do with your bank account – your bank card will have a phone number – or your smart phone can search for a number for you 

remember – don’t follow a URL link given in a email – don’t dial a number given to you in an “urgent” phone message – get outside the stifling confinement of the email or voice mail – and use a URL or phone number that you can trust – this one lesson – built into a habit – will help you avoid being victimized by a lot of scams – or if caught up in one – you’ll get this tingling sensation that is telling you to stop  and reconsider – before you give out the information that is priceless to the unscrupulous