The best way to protect your business and your employees is to advise them to never provide their social security numbers, addresses, or other personal information. Individuals give up their information freely because they believe that they’re communicating with legitimate organizations. Phishing emails work so well because they don’t contain any malicious code, which many operating systems have some defense against. Employees are invited to disclose personal financial information by sites that mimic banks, retail stores, and utility companies. Phishing refers to the practice of sending out legitimate looking emails that contain links to scam websites. Often, the simplest scam is the most effective. Unfortunately, Mac OSX has proven to be every bit as vulnerable as Windows, which has led to plenty of headaches for small businesses. The first Mac viruses began appearing in 2006, and security companies were not far behind with comprehensive antivirus software. While it used to be true that Mac computers did not have any known viruses, recent gains in market share have made the Mac ecosystem more enticing to hacking organizations. Years of advertising have led Mac users to believe that their machines are naturally immune to viruses.
