Office 365 Phishing Protection - What You Need to Know?

When it comes to the different programs that professionals use to help run their businesses, Microsoft Office 365 is one of the most widely used. It offers its users a variety of benefits. From working remotely to unbelievable IT support, it's easy to see why Office 365 is the choice of many businesses across the globe.

Despite its popularity, Office 365 can leave your business email open to deceptive phishing scams and threats. It comes equipped with a standard email filtration system that works fine for a personal email account, but what happens when you need protection for Office 365 in the workplace?

Why trust your business's sensitive information to a standard email filter that can’t compete with today’s threats? To protect your business and eliminate the threat of phishing emails infiltrating your inbox, a solid third-party solution like SpamTitan for Office 365 can help.

SpamTitan Plus+ offers advanced Office 365 phishing protection to ensure your business, employees, and clients don’t become the targets of malicious phishing attacks.

Before we talk about how PhishTitan can help protect your business, let’s learn more about phishing, what it is, and the different ways you can be targeted.

What is Phishing?

To understand why Office 365 phishing protection is so important, you first have to understand what phishing is and all the different ways you can be targeted. After all, knowledge is the best weapon when it comes to online attacks.

Phishing is when cybercriminals attempt to lure sensitive information out of you by way of fraudulent emails disguised as regular, harmless emails. These emails often contain malicious software known as ransomware or malware designed to steal data and block access until a ransom is paid.

Additionally, there are many different types of phishing emails. Each one is unique and requires a unique solution. Let’s look at the main types of phishing emails to be aware of.

Simple Phishing

We’ve all received an email from a Nigerian prince who needs our help. This would be an example of an early simple phishing email. In recent years, these simple phishing emails have evolved to include emails claiming contest winnings, password expiration, full email inboxes, and more.

The goal of these simple phishing emails is equally as simple. It’s to get you to send money or gain access to your company's sensitive information.

Sophisticated Phishing

Sophisticated phishing emails are slightly more complex because they may contain personal information. While a simple phishing email is a boilerplate mass email that looks the same for everyone, a sophisticated phishing email might contain your actual name or password, which was purchased online from another data breach.

This not only makes the email appear more legitimate, but it also seeks to create fear in its reader. An example of this type of phishing email claims to have footage of you watching pornography and threatens to send it to your contact list if you don’t pay them.

Spear Phishing

Spear phishing emails seek to target a specific group or person within an organization. Typically the attacker will do some research on their victim, gaining their name, email, and even the names of their colleagues or friends. They then target their victim with a phishing email that appears to have come from a trusted source like your boss with instructions for a “special project” that needs an injection of funds. These can be tricky to identify due to the personalized nature of these emails.

Whaling

Finally, whaling emails are targeted attacks on an organization’s “big guns,” typically the CEO or Chair of the Board. These emails are flawlessly researched, well crafted, and will often result in firings data breaches and could even result in a complete dissolution of the business.

The Signs of an Office 365 Phishing Attack

Even though Office 365 is a robust program with all kinds of security features, because of its popularity, it is also a big target for those trying to gain access to your organization. Office 365 acts as the DNA of many companies globally, and because of that, security threats are consistently evolving beyond the capabilities of a standard email filter.

Here are a few ways an attacker can gain access to your Office 365 email accounts when it comes to phishing schemes.

Stolen Credentials

Your staff accesses their Office 365 work accounts by entering certifications like logins and passwords, but what happens when attackers acquire those stolen credentials? They use the information to access the staff members' OneDrive, Microsoft 365, and Sharepoint folders. Once they have access, emails are sent to other workers and clients, inside and outside the company. This is called data exfiltration, and it can be a real client killer.

Fake Voice Messages

You log on, and Outlook for Office 365 indicates you have an email. Nothing out of the ordinary, right? The subject line reads: “Incoming: You received a voice message from +1 555-555-55 - 250 seconds.” The email shouts out your first name in the body of the message.

Along with the realistic-looking phone number, the email contains a phishing link you can click on to listen to your message. Click on that link, and the attacker has your sign-on info. Fake Voice Messages are one of the more popular ways for deceptive individuals to gain access to Office 365.   

Strange URL’s

Clicking unknown links while reading emails can be another way for attackers to gain access to the company’s Office 365 accounts. Suppose you’re noticing that links from certain emails are continually leading to the wrong location or taking you to third-party affiliate sites. In that case, you may be under an attempted phishing attack.

Irregular Requests

If a recent email has requested for you to modify security settings, enable macros, or install applications, it’s time to alert the IT department. Irregular requests from untrusted sources are another way attackers gain access.

Non-Delivery Email Spam

One of the more popular ways for attackers to gain entry to your Office 365 systems are by using fake Non-Delivery emails. When a user sees these emails, the first impulse is to resend the emails as soon as possible. With Non-Delivery Email Spam, when the user clicks “Send Again,” it takes users to a deceptive Office365 login screen.

After the information is entered, the site redirects to outlook, leaving the user believing they are in no danger. The fact is, they are, as the attacker now has the user's credentials and the ability to wreak havoc with your systems.

These are only a few popular ways attackers gain access to Office 365 systems with phishing schemes. The truth is, with Office 365 being such a big target for hackers, new ways of accessing private information are being developed every day. Standard email filters might not be up to the challenge with these ever-evolving threats.

SpamTitan blocks 99.99% of Spam Emails.

Why You Need SpamTitan Plus+

If you're looking for total protection against the most dishonest phishing tactics out there, SpamTitan Plus+ for Office 365 is here to help.

We focus on providing predictive approaches like heuristics, Bayesian analysis, and machine learning to block new varieties of whaling, spearfishing, and zero-day attacks before they advance further into your Office 365 mailbox.

SpamTitan Plus+ email protection allows you to augment Office 365s native email security with award-winning phishing defense from a trustworthy security provider.

Access the Power of The Sandbox

SpamTitan Plus+ comes equipped with our best tool for phishing prevention; a process called sandboxing.

Sandboxing helps safeguard against sophisticated email attacks and zero-day threats by delivering a solid environment to run an in-depth, refined analysis of unknown or suspicious programs and files.

Our state-of-the-art email security layer will protect against malware, spear phishing, advanced persistent threats (APTs), offering insight into unknown threats and helping mitigate risks.

Sandboxing also assists in uncovering malicious files, including polymorphic and other threats designed for undetectable targeted attacks.

Advanced Protocol for an Advanced World

SpamTitan is jam-packed with award-winning machine learning and behavioral analysis technologies. It allows your IT team the ability to trick hackers into thinking that their endgame was achieved by opening suspicious packages in a secure environment.

Our advanced email security layer will protect against malware, advanced persistent threats, and all forms of sophisticated phishing techniques, offering insight into new threats and helping mitigate risks for your business.

Get Serious About Your Workplace Security

It`s easy to look the other way and hope that your company's IT framework stays lucky and isn`t targeted by outside attacks, but the hard truth is that you can`t take that chance in today's business world.

A phishing attack can leave your company in shambles. It can also harm your clients if the attackers manage to gain access to your Office 365 account. Attacks can happen quickly and leave your business decimated in its wake.

Taking chances with your company's livelihood isn`t worth it.

SpamTitan Plus+ can safeguard your business, employees, and clients. Try SpamTitan Plus+ for Office 365 cost-free, and see the difference a premium protection service can make.