Preventing Email Attacks with Kiri Addison

Phishing emails are constantly evolving to take advantage of current trends, news, and holidays. Typically poor grammar or the time an email was sent could help you identify if it is authentic. But with AI, these obvious signs may soon disappear.

Today’s guest is Kiri Addison. Kiri is the Detection and Efficacy Product Manager at Mimecast, working on security products to defend against new and evolving threats. Previously she was head of data science for threat intelligence and has worked in the public sector creating systems to detect and prevent cyber attacks and fraud. 

Show Notes:

• [0:59] - Kiri shares her background and what her role is at Mimecast.

• [3:03] - Email scams are still the number one attack method and they tend to follow trends, news, and holidays.

• [5:17] - Technology is improving and there is better protection of basic attacks, but with how fast threats evolve, there are still areas of improvement.

• [7:34] - Kiri shares some statistics on the improvement made after implementing phishing email training.

• [8:26] - With the use of ChatGPT, our usual red flags to look for will change.

• [10:12] - In the advice and training by Mimecast, they explain the impact on the end user.

• [12:08] - Kiri explains some of the different types of security measures available.

• [13:47] - A lot of companies only implement the training with their employees to check off the compliance.

• [16:50] - Be suspicious and take some time. Don’t feel pressured.

• [20:05] - Look for anything abnormal, even if it is something unusual from a sender you know.

• [21:44] - If you receive word from someone you know but it seems odd, contact the person directly to find out what’s going on.

• [23:10] - Mimecast works primarily with corporations and businesses, but there are some personal phishing email attempts.

• [24:44] - Some attacks combine safe sights with malicious links.

• [26:00] - Kiri describes some of the recent trends they are seeing.

• [28:58] - As AI evolves, it is going to become harder to protect. However, it all comes down to end user awareness.
  

Thanks for joining us on Easy Prey. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes and leave a nice review. 

Links and Resources:

• Podcast Web Page

• Facebook Page

• whatismyipaddress.com