A phishing email arrives in your inbox. It looks like it’s from your bank, your IT provider, or maybe even one of your own colleagues.
It’s not.
Phishing is still the most common way businesses get compromised. It works because it’s designed to look completely normal. According to the UK government’s Cyber Security Breaches Survey, phishing was identified in 84% of cyber attacks on UK businesses last year.
That’s not a bug. That’s the entire point.
Why phishing is so effective
Hackers don’t need to find a gap in your firewall if they can just ask someone to hand over the keys.
A well-crafted phishing email will use your company name, logo, or even a real colleague’s name. It’ll create a sense of urgency: “Your account will be suspended in 24 hours.” Then it links to a page that looks identical to a real login screen and asks you to enter your credentials.
Once you’ve done that, it’s game over. They’re in.
And it’s not just email. Phishing now arrives over text (smishing), WhatsApp, LinkedIn, and phone calls (vishing). The method changes. The goal doesn’t: trick a real person into doing something they shouldn’t.
What happens after someone clicks
This is where it gets serious. A single successful phishing attack can lead to:
- Email account takeover. They read everything, send emails as you, and reset passwords on your other accounts.
- Data breach. Customer details, financial records, contracts.
- Ransomware. Your files get encrypted and you’re asked to pay to get them back.
- Financial fraud. Fake invoices, redirected payments, bank transfers you didn’t authorise.
We’ve seen businesses lose tens of thousands of pounds from a single click. And small businesses are often targeted precisely because they’re assumed to have weaker defences.
What you can do about it
You won’t stop phishing emails arriving. But you can make sure that when they do, they don’t cause damage.
Multi-factor authentication (MFA). Even if someone gets your password, they can’t log in without the second factor. This is the single most effective thing you can do right now.
Staff awareness. Once-a-year training isn’t enough. Short, regular reminders help people recognise the signs and know what to do when something doesn’t feel right.
Email filtering. A decent email security solution catches a lot of phishing attempts before they even reach the inbox.
A clear reporting process. Your staff need to know who to contact if something looks suspicious, and they need to feel safe doing it. The worst outcome is someone clicks something dodgy and says nothing for two weeks.
Verify payment changes by phone. Phishing emails often impersonate suppliers. If payment details change unexpectedly, always confirm with a direct call before transferring anything.
The honest truth
No business is completely phish-proof. What you’re aiming for is making yourself a harder target, and making sure that if someone does click, you catch it quickly and limit the damage.
If you’re not sure how exposed your business is, or you want to talk through what better email security looks like, get in touch. It’s exactly the kind of conversation we have every day.
James
Attenu8 IT Support