Concerned about phishing attacks this holiday season? In this article, our mascot Shermie the Sheep visits the North Pole and shares best practices you can follow to prevent dangerous phishing and spear phishing attacks from wreaking havoc on your business.
Shermie: Hi, my name is Shermie. I’m the mascot and predictably awesome IT ambassador for navitend. Today, I’m visiting Santa’s Workshop at the North Pole to talk about how phishing and spear-phishing attacks can ruin your business, not just during the holidays, but any day.
Receptionist Elf: Good morning, sir. How are you?
Shermie: I can’t complain, ma’am. How about you?
Receptionist Elf: I’m doing well, thanks. Are you here to speak with Santa?
Shermie: Yes.
Receptionist Elf: Well, I’m sorry, sir, he’s in a meeting right now. It’s almost Christmas and he’s booked all day every day from now until the 25th. Would you like to take a tour with Mrs. Claus?
Shermie: That sounds like a plan.
Receptionist Elf: Mrs. Claus, could you please show this visitor around the office and workshop?
Mrs. Claus: Why, certainly. (to Shermie) Why don’t you come with me?
Shermie: Gladly, Mrs. C.
Mrs. Claus: On your left, you’ll find the finance office. On the right is our marketing office. At the end of the hall, you’ll find the product development office. I need to speak with our product development team.
(Upon reaching the product development office, Shermie and Mrs. Claus find an elf reviewing emails).
Product Development Elf (reading emails): “Dear Paul, Congratulations, you have successfully booked round-trip flights on Caribbean Air Express from the North Pole to Nassau, Bahamas, departing December 26, 2025, and returning January 3, 2026. Please click below to confirm your reservation.”
Shermie: Holy malware, what’s this? A phishing email? This looks like a job for the one, the only, the predictably awesome Sherminator!
Paul: Who are you?
Shermie: I am the Sherminator, and I am here to protect you and all the employees of Santa Claus & Associates, Inc. from harmful phishing attacks!
Paul: You look like a sheep in a superhero outfit.
Shermie: Yes, I am, but I’m here to tell you that if you click that link, you may unwittingly share sensitive business and/or personal information¹. That includes not only your name and password, but in some cases, your bank account number as well¹.
Paul: Thank you, Mr. Sherminator. I’ll delete that email.
Shermie: Smart move. That email is a phishing email and clicking it could spell disaster for you and your business. In short, if you find a suspicious link or attachment in any emails you receive, don’t click them. Just ignore or delete them and move on¹. Now, do you know what percentage of data breaches result from phishing?
Paul: Let me guess – fifteen percent?
Shermie: Close enough. Phishing attacks account for 16 percent of all data breaches, with the average phishing-related breach costing $4.8 million².
Paul: Well, I learned something new today. Thank you, Mr. Sherminator.
Shermie: You’re welcome, sir.
(Mrs. Claus and Shermie continue down the hall to the accounting office)
Mrs. Claus: Now, Shermie, this is our accounting office, and if you continue down the hall and through the second door to the right, you’ll find our warehouse.
Shermie: I guess we could stop by the accounting office.
Mrs. Claus: Now, Shermie, this is Holly, our accounts payable manager. Holly, this is Shermie the Sheep.
Holly: Hi, Shermie.
Shermie: Hi to you, too, Holly.
Holly: What’s with the superhero costume?
Shermie: I’m the Sherminator, and I’m here to keep your business safe from dangerous cyberattacks!
Holly: Well, I was just checking my email when I saw one that claimed to be from the boss, but it didn’t look like his email.
Shermie: Let me take a closer look. You’re right – it’s not his email. Let me take the mouse and hover over the sender’s address – it says the email is from santa@sclausass0ciates.com.
Holly: Do you mind if I read the email to you?
Shermie: Not at all.
Holly: It says, “Dear Holly, I know you process the invoices from 1225 Lumber, LLC³. ‘They just let me know that they’re updating their payment process and need all future payments to go to a new bank account³. Here’s their latest invoice with the new account details³.’ Can you please send me the payment today³? Sincerely, Mr. C.”
Shermie: Thank you, Holly. This is a spear phishing email, and I know spear phishing when I see it.
Holly: What’s spear phishing?
Shermie: Unlike regular phishing attacks, spear phishing attacks are personalized to target specific individuals, groups, and businesses like yours³. Malicious actors send emails like the one you received to trick you into sending them money, downloading dangerous malware, or sharing your sensitive business and/or personal information³.
Holly: That’s scary, Mr. Sherminator.
Shermie: I agree, but what’s even scarier is that during the second quarter of this year, manufacturing accounted for 26 percent of all email attacks – more than any other industry⁴.
Holly: You’re right. That is scary.
Shermie: Well, to prevent scary spear phishing attacks, there are a few simple steps you should follow.
Holly: What would those be?
Shermie: Your supervisors should provide ample cybersecurity training to strengthen your company’s defenses against dangerous phishing and spear-phishing attacks³. For example, these programs help you and your coworkers identify email spoofing, errors in spelling and grammar, unusual requests, and other signs that an email may be malicious³.
Holly: Tell me more, Mr. Sherminator.
Shermie: This training should also include simulated spear-phishing attacks and penetration tests³. These can help you and your coworkers apply what you have learned in your training courses³. It also helps the security team identify your business’s most pressing vulnerabilities so they can remediate them³.
Holly: Well, Mr. Sherminator, my coworkers and I are all required to take cybersecurity training courses every six months.
Shermie: Well, that’s good to know. If you need any additional support, give me a call or send me an email. I’m with navitend, and we also offer next-generation Sophos firewalls, endpoint encryption, endpoint security, and all the other tools your business needs to keep phishers at bay.
Holly: Thank you, Mr. Sherminator, for all your help today. I learned so much about phishing and spear phishing attacks.
Shermie: You’re welcome, Holly. Thanks for meeting with me and have a predictably awesome holiday season.
Holly: You’re welcome, Mr. Sherminator.
Shermie: Well, friends, just follow the best practices I mentioned, and I guarantee that your business will be safe from devastating phishing and spear phishing attacks. I wish you all a predictably awesome holiday season.
Navitend can help you. Call 973.448.0070, 866.448.0070, or setup an appointment today.
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