You should know better!

These days, clicking on a link is all it takes to infect your PC or mobile device with ransomware.

For those of you who haven't heard of CrytoLocker or similar viruses, these infections will encrypt your data and then ask for a ransom amount (usually in Bitcoin) in order to restore you access to it.

The first ones we came across were from emails claiming to be from Australia Post - "your package is ready for pickup - please click here" (or something similar) and would be all they needed to write in order to spark your curiosity.

Many of our clients were actually expecting a package or were so busy they didn't think twice about it.

There are now more and more being sent from popular services like PayPal, Netflix and Apple in an attempt to obtain your login details.

Office 365 has become quite a frequent one now with staff being warned about their mailbox being full. Again this is in order to obtain your email login credentials. Even if you have 2-Factor Authentication in place, there will be staff that will still enter in the authentication code as they are under the impression that they will need to login to resolve the "mailbox full" issue - always confirm with your IT support person if you're unsure of an email's legitimacy.

To ensure you're as safe as possible, NEVER click on an link you receive whether it's via SMS, WhatsApp or Email.

If you're expecting an attachment, then that's fine but make sure to check who the "From" address is (is it spelled correctly or missing parts) and whether they really were intending to send it to you. There's nothing wrong with emailing them back and asking.

We're finding that people are even going as far as registering a domain name that's very similar to try and look as legitimate as possible - for example, instead of the email coming from "staffmember"@techseek.com.au it will come from "staffmember"@techseekau.com

Having an SPF record in place prevents hackers from impersonating you, however a staff member's account can be compromised meaning they can still send you an email with an embedded link - it's up to you to be vigilant and think twice before clicking it.

Make sure to forward our text message on to your employees, friends and family so that they also can be educated on the importance of NOT clicking on links.

To see more phishing examples, click on the link below;

https://www.phishing.org/phishing-examples

Feel free to let us know via our Facebook page (facebook.com/techseek) about how many employees or friends you catch out!

**For those of you who've read this post directly from LinkedIn, this is what our clients will have arrived at after clicking on a link that we sent them via SMS to test out their curiosity and vulnerability.