Phishing prevention best practices for Messaging Gateway

Products

• Messaging Gateway
• Messaging Gateway for Service Providers

Issue/Introduction

Learn best practices to help prevent phishing emails with Symantec Messaging Gateway (SMG).

Resolution

Administrator guidelines

• Upgrade to the latest version of Messaging Gateway.
• Ensure that the appliance status is good and that no alerts or abnormal behaviors are reported.
• Enable sender authentication technologies (SPF and SenderID, DKIM, DMARC)
• Enable Customer-specific Rules.
• Enable Customer-specific URL Categories (version 10.7.5 and newer).
• Regularly submit missed spam to Symantec Security Response.
• Enable Probe Network participation.
• Enable Uniform Resource Identifiers (URI) reporting.
• Configure email spoofing detection.
• Review and follow Symantec's spam control best practices.
• Enable recipient validation for locally protected domains. Symantec recommends using the "Reject" action.
• Provide your end-users with the best practices found under "End-user guidelines"

 

End-user guidelines

• Be cautious when clicking on URLs in email or social media, even when coming from trusted sources and friends.
• Do not click on shortened URLs without previewing or expanding them first using available tools and plug-ins.
• Be cautious when providing information via social networking websites.
• Be suspicious of search engine results and only click through to trusted sources when conducting searches.
• Be suspicious and think before you click: Never view, open, or execute any email attachment unless you expect it and trust the sender.
• Use a web browser URL reputation solution that shows the reputation and safety rating of Web sites from searches.
• Never disclose any confidential personal or financial information unless and until you can confirm that any request for such information is legitimate.
• If you are entering personal or financial details online, look for visual cues that identify safe websites. Scan the web page for a trust mark, such as the Norton Secured Seal.
• Review your bank, credit card, and credit information frequently for irregular activity. Avoid banking or shopping online from public computers (such as libraries, Internet cafes, etc) or from unencrypted Wi-Fi connections.
• Track brand abuse via domain alerting and fictitious Web site reporting.
• Use HTTPS when connecting via Wi-Fi networks to your email, social media, and sharing websites. Check the settings and preferences of the applications and websites you are using.
• Keep your operating system up-to-date, and employ a comprehensive security suite.

 

Probe Network

The Symantec Probe Network allows you to configure as many probe emails accounts (e.g. spam traps or honey pots) as possible so that localy targeted phishing attacks are automatically sent to Symantec Security Response.

For more information, see About the Symantec Probe Network.