Do you really know who sent that email?
You surely know by now that a favourite trick of scammers is to try and convince you that their dodgy email has been sent to you by a trusted contact. Even though the display name is familiar to you, you may find on closer inspection that the actual sending email address is something completely different.
It is easy enough on a computer to look at the actual sender address, but also easy enough simply to ignore it on a busy work morning. It’s another matter entirely on a mobile device which often only presents you with the display name.
Wouldn’t it be lovely if someone could warn you to be wary?
Well, it turns out that it is possible after all.
The first solution uses Microsoft 365. Where the email address does not match your own domain, you can opt for all your company’s email account users to see a message in red emblazoned across the top. For example:
This email originated outside of [the organisation]. Please review the content for authenticity and potential risks before clicking on any links or downloading any attachments.
You would think that most emails originate outside of your company, but where this warning comes into its own is when an email drops into your inbox purporting to be from your CEO. An alert that this is not a company email address should hopefully make you think twice before complying with the requests to make a swift payment.
Unfortunately, a standard warning appearing on every email will soon disappear into the background. Your team members will simply stop reading it.
Fortunately, I have just learnt about a more sophisticated solution provided by our spam filtering partners Barracuda. It appears to be fairly straightforward to switch this service on too if you are a Barracuda user.
The message is highlighted with a blue shaded area so it hopefully stands out. A particularly nice touch is that the sending email address is displayed: very handy when you are viewing the message on your phone. What’s more is that there are a range of specific messages.
EXTERNAL SENDER: nice succinct message:
Make sure you trust this sender before taking any actions.
UNUSUAL SENDER: used when the system detects that you have not received a message from this sender before. Obviously in the early weeks this will occur frequently whilst it is learning who contacts you regularly. In addition to the external sender text, it adds:
You don’t usually receive emails from this address.
UNUSUAL LINK: it always feels like a bit of a lottery if you spot a link on an email. Will it be safe to click? This warning appears if the sender is new to you and there is an invitation to visit an external website. The danger of unusual links is the possibility of your passwords and other sensitive information being stolen.
This message contains a suspicious link, which may lead to a malicious site. Confirm the message is safe before clicking any links.
UNUSUAL SENDER IP: when a familiar sender contacts you from a different internet location (IP), this is a sign that all may not be well. A more strongly worded warning this time:
This message originated from a source not commonly seen for this domain, which could be an indication of a scam.
NEWLY REGISTERED SENDER DOMAIN: Cyber criminals prefer to use new domains apparently. In this case the domain is displayed rather than the sender address. This message will appear in the first 30 days of the domain’s existence. Another strong message:
This message comes from a newly registered domain, active for only a short time. Scammers commonly create new domains for attacks.
As with all things cybersecurity related, your team have to be informed to be on the lookout for these messages. Ideally, you’ll be conducting education already with simulated phishing attacks too. Any extra tool to prompt circumspection can’t hurt. And of course using a good anti-spam product keeps a lot of nasty emails away from your inbox in the first place.
For me, the best aspect is the highlighting of the sender address. Very reassuring when you are out and about with your phone.
Who knew that receiving an email was such a risky business! If you would like to improve your email security too, call Computer Troubleshooters.
