Spam/Phishing Awareness
We have been receiving a lot of spam over the past few months. Please read the below to learn about how to identify phishing attempts.
If you are unaware of these terms, please review the
information provided by the FTC and US-CERT in the links below.
https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0003-phishing
https://www.us-cert.gov/ncas/tips/ST04-014
One of the more common tools used by those attempting to
gain access or reap benefits from unsuspecting users is called email spoofing.
Spoofing is when one forges the header of an email so that the message appears
to have originated somewhere other than the actual source. Even if the email
appears to be from a legitimate contact, make sure you verify that the address
is one you are familiar with and expect the sender to be using for official
business. All M1 communication should be made using official M1 email addresses,
and private emails addressing any business concerns should never be considered
a valid or safe means of communication. To verify the email address a sender is
using, you can either hover over their name in the sent email or double click
their name (depending on the version of Outlook you are using) and verify that
the address it was sent from is correct. Again, even if the address seems OK,
but the contents of the email seem suspicious, please work with IT to verify
the integrity of the email. Verification should look similar to the below.
Another common tool is sending a URL (weblink) that appears
to go to a legitimate website, but in fact sends the user to another site once
it is clicked. When clicking on a URL from either a known or unknown sender,
best practice is to hover over the link to verify that the link is sending you
to a valid, safe website. This should look like the below. If the sites don’t
match, or look suspicious, DO NOT CLICK the link and work with IT.
Finally, please be very aware of any attachments you are
opening. If they are not from an expected source, or the email seems
suspicious, please forward the email to helpdesk@m1services.com as an attachment (click here for instructions) and we will be more than happy to review it.
In general, if you receive an email from someone
you think is suspicious in either its’ contents or manner of communication,
please get with the IT team to verify authenticity of the email before taking
action.