This first screenshot has so many red flags. The subject line alone is a classic pressure tactic, but the fact that my system is telling me (in RED) that it's a no, why did I even reply?
Because the sender is a real person whom I've spoken to on the phone and I was curious.
That's how they get you!
This is a straight up phishing email. Unfortunately her business email account has been compromised. I've been seeing a lot of hacked accounts and data breaches lately, so let's talk about things that you can do to protect yourself and your brand.
Security and Brand Reputation
Data breaches can hurt your brand reputation. According to a Forbes Insight report, 46% of brands that suffered a data breach also took a hit to their reputation and brand value.
Image via Forbes Insights
And the reputational damage lasts for months after the recovery time, possibly even lingering for years. Which ultimately increases the costs associated with the disruption due to the breach.
Image via Forbes Insights
Protect Your Data and Reputation
So, what steps can you take to minimize your risk and out yourself in a stronger position overall? Here are a couple:
- Make sure that your data is secure, especially your proprietary data.
- Backup your data regularly. And if you aren't already storing it all to the cloud so that you're independent of devices, do that instead.
- Adopt multiple layers of protection for everything. All of your tools, all of your software, basically everything that you have to log into.
- Make sure that your passwords are strong and update them periodically.
- Double check that your WiFi is actually secure and that you aren't sharing it with randoms.
- And update all your software because if you aren't using the most updated versions, you're potentially putting yourself at risk.
Be Proactive, Not Reactive
And if you want to be proactive about your brand reputation and learn how to curate meaningful content that'll give people a broader picture of you people if something unfortunate does happen, then take a look at my free case study video on how to get publicity without breaking the bank.
ABOUT BLACK GIRL PR™
Black Girl PR™ is a Black-owned PR firm for Black womxn founders and innovators. We teach them how to curate content that gets publicity and media coverage, so they reach more people and have a bigger impact.
