Phishing is relatively simple in the world of scams. It relies heavily on manipulation and in the age of artificial intelligence (AI), it is becoming easier and easier for fraudsters to access the tech and manipulate innocent users. To combat rising phishing levels, Vodafone Business, the social enterprise division of Vodafone, has put together a list of recommendations for the UK Government.
The recommendations come at a crucial moment as Vodafone Business research has revealed that 98 per cent of businesses do not feel adequately prepared to manage the rising threat of AI-driven. Furthermore, should they suffer an attack, over half (54 per cent) of respondents admitted they don’t have a plan in place to deal with an advanced AI-phishing attack.
While 80 per cent of businesses agree that cybersecurity training would be helpful for their employees, only 64 per cent have provided any kind of cybersecurity training in the past two years. Despite younger staff generally being more digitally aware, those aged 18 -24 were those found most likely to fall for an AI-phishing scam. In fact, 47 per cent of Gen Z staff have not updated their password for more than a year, and two in 10 (19 per cent) have never changed them at all.
Proactive Security: Phishing of the Future
As part of its new ‘Proactive Security: Phishing of the Future’ cybersecurity campaign to highlight the rising threat of AI-driven phishing scams on UK businesses, Vodafone Business has drawn up the following policy recommendations for the UK Government to consider as it looks to safeguard businesses:
- Incentivising cyber security adoption: Introduce financial incentives, such as tax breaks, grants or subsidies, for businesses that invest in cyber security measures, including training and certification.
- Launching a ‘Cyber Safe’ PR campaign: Develop a nationwide PR campaign to promote Cyber Resilience Centres (CRCs) and the Cyber Essentials certification among businesses of all sizes.
- Reallocating funding for local cyber security training: Reallocate funds within the National Cyber Security Strategy budget to support targeted local initiatives for businesses, focusing on effective engagement programmes.
- Enhancing cyber security skills to prevent AI-led cyber-attacks: Promote the development and adoption of AI-driven cybersecurity tools and provide training to businesses on preventing AI-led cyber-attacks.
- Expanding Cyber Resilience Centres (CRCs): Establish additional CRCs in underserved regions and enhance the capabilities of existing centres to offer tailored support for businesses.
Steve Knibbs, head of Vodafone Business Security Enhanced (VBSE), commented: “As our campaign highlights, cybercriminals are using AI tools to develop effective and convincing phishing scams, enabling them to create these deceptive communications at a pace and scale not seen before.
“Of course, businesses should be highly aware of the implications of falling victim to cyber scams, which can often lead to drastic reputational and financial consequences. I would request businesses of all sizes shore up their around-the-clock cybersecurity protection by adopting a proactive, multi-layered approach that combines technical safeguards with employee education and AI-driven detection tools that can recognise patterns in phishing attempts.”
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