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So, I Clicked on a Suspicious Link – What Now?

Say you’re at your desk, and you’re in “multitask mode.” Your to-do list, your list of daily goals, and your inbox are growing and sprouting limbs. So you’re zipping through emails, deleting, archiving and otherwise dealing. One email catches your distracted eye with the subject line, “You have got to see this!” About one second after you’ve opened the email and clicked the link, the little voice in the back of your head says, “Don’t open this – don’t click that suspicious link!”

Whoops. Too late.

The link doesn’t seem to go anywhere, but you realize after the fact that this might have been a link laced with who knows what: malware, ransomware, spyware, adware, scareware? Some other kind of malicious “ware” you’ve not (yet!) heard of?

Clicking on any link that comes from a person or organization unknown is risky, but we’re all human, which is why we’ve created a phishing awareness training course. If you find that you’ve committed the sin of not thinking before you click, there are actions to take to prevent or mitigate harm to your system and the network:

Immediately terminate the session.

Disconnect your device from the Internet by disconnecting the ethernet cable that comes from your router and connects to your device. If you are using Wi-Fi, simply turn the power off to the router or disconnect the computer from the Wi-Fi by using the Connections tool in the Windows OS.

Back up all of your files.

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Now that you are not connected to the outside world, you should conduct a backup of all your files. You can save your backup onto a DVD, thumb drive, or an external hard drive. Conducting periodic backups should be occurring already, because you’re smart and read this blog, so this process should not take too long. You should also have a backup DVD of your operating system. This will act as a safe, bootable version of the OS. You may have a cloud service that you send backups to or that creates them for your periodically. This is great, but currently you should not be connected to the Internet, so they are of little use to you. This is why you should keep offline backups of your files.

Conduct a full system scan using your antivirus/anti-malware software.

This may take a while, but you should let the tool do its job. It is also recommended that you use more than one antivirus/anti-malware tool. You can use a reputable commercial product such as Norton or McAfee. There are also some good open source anti-virus/malware products such as Malwarebytes or TotalAV that are both good products with high customer satisfaction ratings. If you’re using the Windows 10 operating system, you already have an anti-malware application running. Windows Defender is standard in Windows 10.

Change the password to your email application.

There is a possibility that the email was sent to you using contacts from your own contact list. Even if you did not recognize the email’s sender, it may have been a spoofed email that wanted you to think that the email had come from a long-lost acquaintance trying to reconnect. While changing your password, consider activating two-factor authentication, in which you’ll be sent a one-time use code as a text message on your mobile device. You enter the one-time code after entering your ID and password. This offers an extra level of assurance that your account will not be compromised.

Follow your company policy.

If you fall victim to this sort of attack at your organization, follow the policy that is prescribed by your employer. It would not be a bad idea to turn off your computer to help prevent the spread of any infection into the network.

Remember to ensure that your operating system and anti-virus/malware are kept up to date with the latest security updates. You should turn on the “Automatic Update” function in both.

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Learn more about how to prevent these attacks by reading phishing prevention tips.

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To fortify your frontline of defense against potential cyberattacks, sign up for a trial account at Inspired eLearning today and start training your employees with our award-winning security awareness solution.

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Want to learn more about phishing? Check out our phishing infographic or phishing simulator.