97% Of People Unable To Correctly Identify Phishing Emails: Green Armor Phishing Identification-Assistance Technology Needed More Than Ever
A study performed by Intel Security, and whose results were announced this week, revealed that
97% of people are unable to correctly identify phishing emails, and, are, therefore, at risk for falling prey to phishing scams.
Intel's study tested people's ability to distinguish between legitimate emails and phishing attempts designed to steal personal information. According to Intel, "of the approximately 19,000 survey respondents from 144 countries, only 3% were able to identify every example correctly, and 80% of all respondents misidentified at least one of the phishing emails, which is all it takes to fall victim to an attack."
Nearly a decade after Green Armor Solutions initially announced its Identity Cues anti-phishing technology that makes obvious to people whether an email is legitimate or a phishing attempt, the technology is as needed as ever.
Why is phishing -- an attack method that has been around for over a decade -- still successful? Why are people still falling prey?
As Green Armor's CEO,
Joseph Steinberg, noted in
Forbes:
"Phishing, and other spam-related attacks, do not exploit technical vulnerabilities. They leverage a technological medium to exploit human weaknesses. The difference is significant -- and game changing. While technical weaknesses can often be addressed with technical solutions, curbing phishing and related scams mandates addressing the underlying human problem at their cores -- an issue has nothing to do with the digital age. Deceptive actors impersonating legitimate parties have been conning people since the dawn of civilization.
Which do you think will work better -- educating employees for the umpteenth time about the dangers associated with opening attachments, or making it obvious to them when something is wrong?
In fact, a primary reason why phishing continues to be an effective method of attack -- even after a decade of anti-phishing efforts -- is precisely because anti-phishing technologies are often designed to combat phishing by implementing technical 'solutions' rather than addressing the human source of the problem. Technical countermeasures can be circumvented, and if a human target is not otherwise shielded, problems occur."
"Technology such as the Identity Cues series by Green Armor leverages human psychology and gets to the core of the phishing problem," added Steinberg. "By making it obvious to a person whether a message is legitimate or a phishing email, Green Armor can truly enhance security without inconveniencing anyone."
For more information about Green Armor Solutions and its authentication offerings please visit:
http://www.GreenArmor.com
About Green Armor Solutions Inc.
Green Armor Solutions offers innovative solutions to information-security challenges facing today's businesses. Its Identity Cues series of products leverage a unique blend of psychology and technology to help deliver maximum security with maximum user convenience. They provide strong two-factor authentication and site authentication thereby helping to protect against phishing, pharming, and online fraud, while allowing users to continue to enjoy the simple, comfortable user experience with which they are already familiar. Identity Cues authentication products can help companies address security and privacy requirements as part of compliance initiatives for FFIEC/NCUA Authentication, HIPAA, and GLBA. Green Armor's technology has helped secure environments across verticals including those at First Bank, EPIC Advisors, dozens of hospitals, and hundreds of credit unions. For more information please visit:
http://www.GreenArmor.com
The marks Green Armor Solutions, Green Armor, SiteAuth, Identity Cues, Identity Cues Two Factor, and the Green Armor Solutions logo are trademarks of Green Armor Solutions, Inc. All other marks are the trademarks of their respective owners.
---
Note: Green Armor Solutions Inc. does not update the contents of its press releases after the releases have been issued. As a result, information in a particular press release may not be accurate if read at a point in time subsequent to the initial release. Furthermore, to the extent that any press release contains information that is not historical fact, that information should be considered opinion or forward-looking.
