Today, I received a very informative, instructional email by Dr. Lorne Lavine (The Digital Dentist) about clicking on incoming emails and how to avoid opening a “bad” email and creating a security disaster for the practice. All staff in a practice who check the incoming email traffic should be trained on this.
Here it is:
Click here… click here… click here… (actually, DON’T!)
How often do you stop and think before clicking a link or opening an email?
Every time, I hope.
Because if you’re click-happy, it’s only a matter of time till you make a false move and bring disaster to your practice by way of malware, stolen data, or worse.
We all know just how big phishing has become (where a fake email looks like it’s from a real company). It was the most common type of cyber-crime last year.
If you’re not cautious, it would only take one absent-minded click from you or one of your team to cripple your practice. Phishing emails work by either getting you to download an attachment, which is secretly malware. Or to click a link and give away your login credentials or other personal information.
And while I know you weren’t born yesterday, these emails can be very convincing. Often, they look like they’ve been sent from someone you know and trust: your bank, a supplier, even a colleague. And the email addresses are very close to the genuine ones.
It’s important you know some of the signs to look for before you click or download anything.
First, check the sender’s email address. Is the email sent from the real @company.com or the fake @company-email.com? [If you click on the email sender’s name and then click on “Details” beside it, it will display the actual email address it was sent from and doing that has saved many people.]
Look at the contents of the email. Are there spelling mistakes or is the English not perfect? It’s probably fake.
What about the logo or email signature? Do they look as they usually do or is the resolution poor? Are things a little smaller or larger than normal?
And how are you addressed? Dear Customer? Dear [your email address]?
If you have an account with someone, it’s more likely they’d address you by your name, right? If you’re not sure, go back and check other emails you’ve received from that company or person.
If you see any red flags, or you’re not quite sure whether the email is genuine or not, don’t… click… anything! You can contact the company directly to check with them.
AND THERE YOU HAVE IT!
Go over the above article by Dr. Lavine with all your staff and avoid preventable computer disasters.
Call us at 416-466-6217 for a FREE Practice Assessment!
