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The Top Government Impersonation Scams of 2022 And How to Protect Yourself Against Them

Written on: Feb 28, 2023 9:59:52 AM

Written by: Elizabeth Reed

Topic

[Cyber Security]

There were 6.4 million reports of suspicious emails received by the Suspicious Email Reporting Service (SERS) in 2022. Of these, the top government impersonation attacks reported to SERS were:

  • NHS
  • TV Licensing
  • HM Revenue & Customs
  • Gov.uk
  • DVLA 
  • Ofgem

As per the phishing method, by impersonating these well-known brands, scammers can trick people into clicking a malicious link to download malware onto their device or direct them to what appears to be a legitimate website which will steal sensitive data.To make these phishing attempts all the more convincing, many exploited topical events like the rising cost of living with Ofgem energy bill support came and HMRC tax rebate scams.

When your inbox is bombarded with convincing phishing attacks, it's vital that you and your organisation are well protected against the risks that these pose. This includes:

  • Implementing user awareness training throughout your organisation to ensure that everyone is able to identify suspicious emails and report them, rather than fall victim an attack. Our partner KnowBe4 is the world's largest integrated platform for security awareness training with simulated phishing attacks. Arctic Wolf also offers free security awareness training as part of a more comprehensive solution that protects against all manner of security threats.
  • Leverage Integrated Cloud Email Security solutions to bolster your existing email security solutions. Abnormal Security makes inbound email security simple by fully automating email triage, remediation, and reporting, consolidating all auto-detected and user-reported threats into a single interface. Tessian protects against both inbound threats and outbound threats which includes accidental data loss caused by people sending emails to the wrong recipient or attaching the wrong files. 
  • Practicing stringent cyber hygiene with identity access management (IAM) to identify and authorise users and privileged access management (PAM) to ensure only those who have permission can access sensitive information.

How can COOLSPIRiT help?

With our in-house technical expertise and long-standing industry experience, we are best-placed to advise our customers on the cyber security solutions they need to protect their organisation from today's cyber threats. To find our more about these solutions, contact us today to learn more: call 01246 454 222 or email hello@coolspirit.co.uk.

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