You’ve Got Something on Your Shirt
Read Time / 2 Minutes
Theme / Wise Living
“Hey! You’ve got something on your shirt.”
It’s an age old trick. The goal is to convince a friend into believing they have something embarrassing — like a mustard stain from the Costco hotdog they ate for lunch — on their shirt causing them to look down, in a hurry, at the spot the accuser’s index finger is pointing. If the victim looks down, victory is celebrated by the triskster running their pointed finger up the victim’s chest and finishing with a pull on their nose.
Not all playful pranks are as harmless as this. In fact, many tricksters online, known as cybercriminals, use emails to bait you into giving access to sensitive information on your computer. This is called Phishing.
Though avoiding the use of computers and internet is the ultimate security from Phishing attacks, it may not be a realistic solution in today’s day and age. The world continues to move toward internet based activities and, as a result, we find ourselves continuing to rely more on computers and internet for daily activities. In fact, according to a study published by the Statista Research Department, more than 75 billion devices are projected to be connected to the internet by 2025 — that’s approximately 10 devices per individual. Wow!
So, how can we protect ourselves from these attacks?
KnowBe4, one of the world largest providers of security awareness training, encourages all email users to stop, look, and think before taking action on an email and to take notice with these potential red flags:
Urgent Subject Lines
Inconsistent To/From/Reply
Unusual Time Stamp
Emotion Invoking Content
Claim to Receive Benefits or Avoid Consequences by Click on Links or Attachments
Most of us have seen the variety in quality of these types of attacks, ranging from what appears to be a creation of a toddler to the production of a master cybercriminal. The key to remain safe on the web is simple: stop, look, and think before taking action. As Proverbs puts it, “haste makes waste.” (19:2b)
The next time you receive an email from a friend urgently requesting financial assistance to return home safely from a foreign country or they kindly inform you in person about a stain on your shirt consider verifying the legitimacy of the claim. Sometimes, no action is the best action. After all, what’s the worst that can happen, you walk around with a stain on your shirt?
Ryan De Amicis
Wealth Advisor
408.758.6413
ryan@christianwm.com
