5 signs it’s a phishing email

5 signs it’s a phishing email

As the year winds to a close, it is important that safety and security are prioritised, especially as regards activities in the online space. This year witnessed massive retrenchment and an increase in the number of unemployed youths. Idleness, coupled with the ease of internet access and technological know-how makes cyber-crime attractive.

To help you protect yourself from internet fraudsters and information hackers, we have identified five easy pointers that will enable you to recognise phishing emails.

  1. If the attachment looks funny

Look out for the attachment title, if it is not coherent or connected to anything related to you, it is best to leave it unopened. As much as possible, only open attachments from email addresses you are familiar with.

  1. If it contains urgent or threatening language in the subject line

Corporate organisations are usually cautious in their communication. If the subject line appears threatening or demands that you take an action immediately, it could be a phishing email, approach it with caution.

  1. If it is asking for personal information

Banks, Investment companies and other regulated organisations will never request for personal information such as ATM card pin, internet banking code and the likes. If the email is requesting for such sensitive information, it is most likely fraudulent.

  1. If it contains grammatical errors and other mistakes

Corporate organisations value their brand and reputation. Official communication is thus proofread repeatedly before it is sent out. If the email contains blunders, it is probably from a fraudster in the corner of his room.

  1. If it is mandating you to click on a link

While official emails might contain genuine links, the content will most likely be spelt out in the URL. Where a mail mandates that you open a  link with that is wrongly spelt, there is a huge possibility that it is a phishing email.

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Source: Blog

Much ado about meetings…

Much ado about meetings…

If you have ever had to work with any number of people, the subject of meetings can’t be strange to you. You have probably had so many meetings today and may still have a number to look forward to. Often, it looks like there is no end and no point to meetings, still attend you must. Meetings can constitute a problem as they essentially waste precious time which could have been invested in actual work.

Tired of endless meetings? These tips by Seth Godin might be just what you need.

Getting serious about your meeting problem

If you’re serious about solving your meeting problem, getting things done and saving time, try this for one week. If it doesn’t work, I’ll be happy to give you a full refund.

  1. Understand that all problems are not the same. So why are your meetings? Does every issue deserve an hour? Why is there a default length?
  2. Schedule meetings in increments of five minutes. Require that the meeting organizer have a truly great reason to need more than four increments of realtime face time.
  3. Require preparation. Give people things to read or do before the meeting, and if they don’t, kick them out.
  4. Remove all the chairs from the conference room. I’m serious.
  5. If someone is more than two minutes later than the last person to the meeting, they have to pay a fine of $10 to the coffee fund.
  6. Bring an egg timer to the meeting. When it goes off, you’re done. Not your fault, it’s the timer’s.
  7. The organizer of the meeting is required to send a short email summary, with action items, to every attendee within ten minutes of the end of the meeting.
  8. Create a public space (either a big piece of poster board or a simple online page) that allows attendees to rate meetings and their organizers on a scale of 1 to 5 in terms of usefulness. Just a simple box where everyone can write a number. Watch what happens.
  9. If you’re not adding value to a meeting, leave. You can always read the summary later.

This is all marketing. It’s a show, one that lets your team know you’re treating meetings differently now.

 

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Source: Blog