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An Employee Clicked on a Malicious Link. What Do We Do?

A lot of times, an engagement with ImageQuest starts on a bad note. What I mean by that is that we get the call that it’s crisis management, the flag’s gone up, and the call might go something like this:

Caller: “Oh my gosh! One of my employees clicked on a malicious link, and they entered their credentials. Now, my employee’s credentials have been compromised. What do we do next?

ImageQuest: “Call your cyber insurance company, and let’s get them involved as quickly as we can. Secondly, let’s get our IT team involved, lock that system down, and make sure that we’ve turned that user’s access off to everything.

What else can you do if this situation happens to you? Keep reading or get the personalized advice you need if suspicious links in phishing emails cause compromised credentials by booking a consultation with us.

Change Passwords Company-Wide

After you call your cyber insurance and turn off the user’s access, the third thing we want to do, depending on how long ago that happened, is have every person in your organization do a password reset. Depending on the size of your company and if you’ve got multifactor authentication, you may not need to go that extreme.

Do You Have an Incident Response Plan?

If you have an incident response plan, it’s going to guide a lot of the activities you’re going to take. If you don’t have an incident response plan, you’ve never really “Game-Theory-ed” this situation, and this is just happening to you for the very first time. So, the very first thing you need to do if a malicious link is clicked is lock down that user and make sure they’re kicked out of every system, and they have to do a forced password reset. Secondly, call your cyber insurance carrier because they’re going to play quarterback from that point forward and drive the ball for you.

Don’t Let a Malicious Link Upend Your Company!

When an employee clicks on a malicious link, it can create a myriad of problems. The immediate reaction is often one of panic and concern. Questions about compromised credentials, data breaches, and potential financial losses flood the minds of stakeholders. All of this can significantly damage your business.

Fortunately, there is a solution. ImageQuest offers robust software solutions that can help alleviate these concerns. By integrating ImageQuest’s advanced cybersecurity measures,  your organization can prevent malicious URLs from wreaking havoc, thereby protecting your email addresses, confidential data, and overall business operations.

An employee clicking on a malicious link can be a daunting experience, but with the right tools and strategies in place, your organization can mitigate the risk and impact. ImageQuest offers the comprehensive cybersecurity solutions needed to protect your business. By implementing these measures, you can ensure the safety of your data and maintain the trust of your clients.