Protecting Against Phishing Attacks
Question
A company conducted a simulated phishing attack by sending its employees emails that included a link to a site that mimicked the corporate SSO portal.
Eighty percent of the employees who received the email clicked the link and provided their corporate credentials on the fake site.
Which of the following recommendations would BEST address this situation?
Answers
Explanations
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A. B. C. D.A.
https://resources.infosecinstitute.com/topic/top-9-free-phishing-simulators/The scenario presented in this question is a common issue faced by organizations today: phishing attacks. In this situation, a simulated phishing attack was conducted, and a large percentage of employees clicked the link and provided their credentials on a fake site. This highlights a significant vulnerability in the organization's security posture, and the best way to address this issue is by implementing appropriate controls.
A. Implement a recurring cybersecurity awareness education program for all users.
This option involves educating employees about cybersecurity risks and how to identify and respond appropriately to potential threats. This is a great approach as it can help employees recognize phishing emails and understand the importance of not clicking on links in suspicious emails. However, while this approach is important, it is not sufficient on its own to address the situation at hand.
B. Implement multifactor authentication on all corporate applications.
Multifactor authentication (MFA) is an essential control to implement for protecting against phishing attacks. By requiring a second form of authentication in addition to the password, the likelihood of an attacker being able to gain access to corporate resources is significantly reduced. This option is therefore an excellent recommendation to address the issue presented in the scenario.
C. Restrict employees from web navigation by defining a list of unapproved sites in the corporate proxy.
While restricting web navigation by defining a list of unapproved sites in the corporate proxy may help prevent employees from visiting malicious sites, it is not a practical solution. It could lead to the restriction of legitimate sites required for business operations and hinder employee productivity. Furthermore, this control does not address the core issue at hand, which is the ability of attackers to trick employees into providing their credentials.
D. Implement an email security gateway to block spam and malware from email communications.
While implementing an email security gateway can help prevent phishing emails from reaching employees' inboxes, it is not a foolproof solution. Attackers may still be able to bypass these security measures, and employees must also be educated about the risks associated with suspicious emails. Furthermore, this control does not address the fact that employees have already provided their credentials on a fake site.
In conclusion, the best recommendation to address the situation presented in this question is to implement multifactor authentication on all corporate applications. This is because MFA is an effective control to prevent attackers from using stolen credentials to gain access to corporate resources. While other controls such as cybersecurity awareness education and email security gateways are important, they are not sufficient on their own to address this issue.
