Freely subscribe to our NEWSLETTER

“It is a stark reminder that even in a time of global crisis cybercriminals have ramped up their attempts to exploit the anxieties of their victims, as the NCSC’s Suspicious Email Reporting Service hits its millionth submission. The launch of the reporting service was encouraging to see and it is clear that there has been a positive response to it from citizens.

“Phishing attacks are one of the most effective methods of attack for cybercriminals and affect every institution and industry. There are increasing reports of cybercriminals using phishing emails to collect data from organisations in order to create fake websites and profiles; the attackers may then use those profiles to claim support under government aid schemes that have been setup to help during the crisis. But it’s not just businesses and organisations that are affected – citizens are arguably at the greatest risk of all. Masquerading as Coronavirus updates, information around the availability of masks and vaccine information – even posing as organisations looking for donations to charitable relief funds – are hard to spot but becoming increasingly common. Irregularities in emails, such as an unexpected emphasis on urgency, spelling and grammar mistakes and whether they expect an email from the sender are all signs that the email is a phishing attack.

“The easy access to a suspicious email reporting service will help reduce the impact of phishing attacks and now it is important to make sure ordinary citizens and employees are aware of the red flags when receiving a phishing email. If it looks too good to be true or in any way suspicious, the best port of call is to never interact with it at all.”