Cyber Corner: Vishing… What’s That?

Most of us have heard of phishing, but what about “vishing?” Instead of sending e-mails, cybercriminals make phone calls or leave voice messages to try to trick victims into giving away sensitive business and personal information like passwords, banking details, or tax information. Vishing is a growing threat to business owners, including those in the wood niche, and something of which every producer should be sure their clients are aware. A vishing call could be about:

• Credit cards. Cybercriminals fabricate stories to address a late payment or provide login credentials to verify or “fix” other details about an account.
• Tech support. Cybercriminals pose as a tech support representative and attackers ask victims to respond to an e-mail or “update” a critical problem on a computer.
• Legal issues. Cybercriminals tell victims that there is a lawsuit against an individual or the company and use that story to gain access to company information and employee details.

These tricks can work on anyone, from C-suite executives to interns, but employees with less training or experience with cybersecurity best practices are particularly vulnerable.

So what can you recommend to help your clients mitigate their risk? Training is critical, and employees need to know how to:

• Respond when someone asks them for financial information
• Verify the authenticity of a caller
• Involve the IT department when a vishing scheme is suspected

Training employees to properly counter phishing and vishing attacks is the first step toward keeping your clients and their teams’ information safe. Proactively reach out to clients with more updates on recent cybercrime, and learn more about PLM’s tools and resources for business owners looking to prepare for and respond to cyberattacks at https://www.plmins.com/products-services/coverages/