People continue to fall for phishing scams

A new study from Blue Coat Systems found that 82 percent of U.S. employees knew that opening an email from an unverified source is considered “very risky;” however, 17 percent still admitted to doing so.

It's not surprising, as phishing emails are becoming trickier and more personalized. Creating a convincing email isn't too difficult a task, considering the proliferation of social media.

250 U.S. respondents to the survey, half of whom were at the CIO level, even IT security pros fall victim to various attacks.

Hugh Thompson, CTO and senior vice president, Blue Coat, said: “We do live in a time when anyone can be deceived. Anyone can be phished, even the most paranoid.”

Not so surprising is that 72 percent of U.S. employees know using a new app without IT's permission is “wrong,” but 28 percent still will use the apps.

Additionally, one out of 20 U.S. employees has looked at adult content on their work device.

“This is not a problem we can educate our way out of,” Thompson said. “We need to change training awareness around actions and how awareness is linked to action.”

The survey consisted of responses from 1,580 respondents from 11 countries.

Source: SCMagazine