In the ongoing quest to improve fraud protection at both the consumer and enterprise levels, cybersecurity experts must attack fraudsters from every angle. Enter phishing. Phishing continues to be one of the most common methods through which criminals perpetrate online fraud. Therefore, the link between fraud protection and stopping phishing is very real.
The link between the two is also a multifaceted one. Why? Because phishing has become a highly sophisticated method of perpetrating fraud. And it’s only becoming more effective as cybercriminals combine old-school phishing techniques with artificial intelligence (AI).
Fraud Protection and Anti-Phishing Efforts
Combining both fraud protection and anti-phishing efforts is key to stopping both. When security teams succeed in doing so, they also:
- Protect sensitive data.
- Protect financial assets.
- Prevent unauthorized account access.
- Improve trust in cybersecurity and digital systems.
Unfortunately, success isn’t always easy to come by. Phishing continues to be popular among cybercriminals because it works. In 2023 alone, the financial costs of phishing attacks on businesses reached nearly $5 million per attack. More than 680 different brands were targeted in November of that year.
New Techniques Are Emerging
Phishing began as a less sophisticated means of stealing credentials by way of email messages. Cybercriminals would send their victims cleverly disguised emails designed to trick them into revealing usernames and passwords. As these early attacks became more sophisticated, criminals started phishing for financial information including bank account and credit card numbers.
From there, they launched into spoofing websites and internal communication channels. This gave them inroads to move beyond stealing individual data to go after enterprise data instead. But have they stopped there? Absolutely not.
DarkOwl, a threat intelligence and fraud protection firm, recently published a highly informative post describing the modern state of phishing. They discussed a number of emerging phishing techniques including:
- Voice phishing – Voice phishing relies on making contact with victims over the phone. It is highly effective as a form of social engineering because it adds an element of psychological trust. Victims give credibility to phone calls where they might give emails a second look.
- SMS phishing – Also known as Smishing, SMS phishing takes advantage of mobile devices and text messages. The primary means of exposure here are embedded links.
- QR code phishing – The enormous popularity of QR codes has led to a new form of phishing known as quishing. It utilizes malicious QR codes that entice consumers to visit websites purposely designed to steal their information.
- Deep fake phishing – Even AI is getting into the act by way of deep fake phishing. This rare but highly sophisticated form of phishing relies on faked videos, photos, and audio files to encourage people to give up information.
The common thread in all these emerging techniques is social engineering. Skilled cybercriminals prey on a combination of ignorance and vulnerability to convince victims to willingly give up sensitive information. Sometimes they use smooth talking techniques to lull victims into a sense of security. Other times they utilize outright threats.
Overlapping Techniques to Fight Both
Combining fraud protection with anti-phishing efforts can be quite effective because the techniques for both often overlap. Those techniques begin with email filtering and scanning. Because phishing is still heavily reliant on email, fraud protection systems often include advanced email filtering capabilities.
They scan incoming emails for:
- Malicious links.
- Known phishing characteristics.
- Unusual patterns or content.
- Suspicious sender addresses.
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is another crucial tool that overlaps both fraud protection and anti-phishing efforts. MFA’s strength is its ability to add an extra layer of protection that goes above and beyond usernames and passwords. The key to leveraging it for anti-phishing efforts is to employ phishing-resistant authentication methods, like Fast Identity Online (FIDO).
Here are some additional overlapping techniques:
- Real time threat intelligence.
- Education and awareness.
- URL protection.
- Attachment scanning.
- Impersonation protection.
Staying ahead of cybercriminals means staying on the cutting edge of technology. Technology is proving itself especially important now that AI is being incorporated into social engineering. AI-driven systems capable of detecting impersonation-based phishing attempts are already in development.
Fraud Protection Should Be Holistic in Nature
Underscoring the link between fraud protection and anti-phishing efforts is the reality that the former should be approached in a holistic manner. By its nature, successful fraud protection is holistic. It looks at every possible angle in order to stop fraud in its tracks. One of those angles is phishing.
Robust anti-phishing measures should include:
- Strong access controls, including permissions.
- Regular security audits and vulnerability assessments.
- Continuous network monitoring.
The holistic approach allows incorporating some of the very same techniques into the broader practice of fraud protection. Consider strong access controls and permissions. They can be the foundation for a zero-trust network access (ZTNA) strategy. ZTNA is quite effective in preventing fraud by requiring users to prove both identity and access need.
Compliance Is Always a Concern
Wrapping everything up in a nice package is the compliance issue. Simply put, governments around the world have begun implementing security mandates requiring organizations of all types to combat fraud and phishing through a variety of means. Some jurisdictions are more strict than others, but actual compliance is not really an option.
Typical mandates include:
- Implementing specific protocols to prevent email spoofing.
- Enforcing strong password policies.
- Providing regular security awareness training.
- Implementing MFA and other technologies.
Where there are no jurisdictional mandates there may still be industry standards. Maintaining compliance with such standards keeps an organization on solid footing in terms of both reputation and liability. Ignoring compliance only sets an organization up for failure.
Fraud protection is an ongoing endeavor made necessary by the fact that criminals have learned how to use the internet to their advantage. They leveraged the internet to launch successful phishing attacks on unsuspecting victims. As such, the relationship between fraud protection and stopping phishing in its tracks is real and pronounced. To ignore that link is to allow criminals to continue doing what they do.