It has been brought to our attention of a recent cyber-attack being circulated throughout our network this past week including some being sent from @123dentist.com email domains. The most common way scammers enter corporate networks is through email and often they will include malicious links or attachments in emails that look harmless. Although we maintain controls to help protect our networks and computers from cyber threats, we rely on you to be our first line of defense.
To avoid this trap, please observe the following email best practices:
- Do not click on links or attachments from senders that you do not recognize.
- Do not provide sensitive personal information (like usernames and passwords) over email.
- Watch for email senders that use suspicious domain names.
- If you can’t tell if an email is legitimate or not, reach out to the sender via phone to confirm with them directly.
- Be especially cautious when opening attachments or clicking links if you receive an email containing a warning banner indicating that it originated from an external source.
- Inspect URLs carefully to make sure they’re legitimate and not imposter sites.
- Do not try to open any shared document that you’re not expecting to receive.
We’ve outlined a few different types of phishing attacks to watch out for:
- Shared Document Phishing: You may receive an e-mail that appears to come from file-sharing site like SharePoint alerting you that a document has been shared with you. The link provided in these e-mails will take you to a fake login page that mimics the real login page and will steal your account credentials.
- Phishing: In this type of attack, hackers impersonate a real company to obtain your login credentials. You may receive an e-mail asking you to verify your account details with a link that takes you to an imposter login screen that delivers your information directly to the attackers.
- Spear Phishing: Spear phishing is a more sophisticated phishing attack that includes customized information that makes the attacker seem like a legitimate source. They may use your name and phone number and refer to 123Dentist in the e-mail to trick you into thinking they have a connection to you, making you more likely to click a link or attachment that they provide.
- Whaling: Whaling is a popular ploy aimed at getting you to transfer money or send sensitive information to an attacker via email by impersonating a real company executive. Using a fake domain that appears similar to ours, they look like normal emails from a high-level official of the company, typically the CEO or CFO, and ask you for sensitive information (including usernames and passwords).
If something seems wrong, let us know right away!
Thanks again for helping to keep our network, and our people, safe from these cyber threats. Don’t hesitate to reach out with any further questions you may have!
Melissa Hedman, Executive Assistant | mhedman@123dentist.com | 604-553-9007 ext. 106
