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Wombat Launches SmishGuru to Protect Today's BYOD Workforce Against Text Message Phishing Attacks
PITTSBURGH, PA, Feb 19, 2013 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) --
Wombat Security Technologies (Wombat), social engineering and
anti-phishing expert, today announced the release of SmishGuruâ ¢, the
industry's first and only simulated attack service to target the
growing problem of text message phishing, coined as "smishing". With
companies struggling to address "bring your own device" (BYOD)
threats attacking today's mobile workforce, SmishGuru is a powerful
tool for security officers to train employees how to recognize and
avoid the most subtle yet potentially harmful smishing attacks. An
expansion of Wombat's family of Social Engineering Assessment
products, SmishGuru helps companies mitigate BYOD risks by teaching
employees to defend against popular mobile device attacks. The new
offering follows in the footsteps of PhishGuru®, Wombat's award
winning email phishing simulation service, which is recognized for
its ease-of-use and proven effectiveness.
"As more companies embrace BYOD policies to empower employee
productivity, cybercriminals will seek new ways to trick people into
providing sensitive information making text message phishing or
'smishing' one of several attack vectors on smart phones," said Paula
Musich, principal analyst for enterprise security at Current
Analysis. "Text messages, like email messages, can be used to spread
malware, phishing scams and other threats among mobile device users."
While the mobile workforce is clamoring for the use of their personal
devices at work, BYOD and uneducated users represent the perfect
recipe for corporate security breaches. A study from Nielsen shows
that 67% of new mobile phone purchases are smartphones; yet while
they are embracing mobile conveniences like texting and geo location
applications, surveys show they are careless about security. A recent
RSA study revealed people are more likely to fall for phishing
attacks on mobile devices than on PCs. As a result, cyber-attacks on
mobile phones rose by a factor of six last year, according to Intel,
while a recent report by Lookout Security predicts that 4 out of 10
mobile users will click an unsafe link on their smartphone.
"We've already seen the rise of successful smishing attacks and all
predictions point to increases in the future," said Joe Ferrara,
President and CEO of Wombat. "SmishGuru is part of a holistic
approach to security awareness and training that leverages our
combination of simulated attacks and highly interactive employee
training to help companies protect against the latest breeds of
malware and spyware used to infect corporate networks and steal
valuable data."
How it Works
Similar to Wombat's PhishGuru and USBGuru solutions, security
officers can select and customize the type of attack they want to
send and they can select and customize the training the employee will
receive if they fall for the simulated attack. Data from SmishGuru
provides security officers with detailed data from each attack
campaign. Employees can easily be grouped and assigned additional
training in the areas they need it most. By assessing and training
employees throughout the year, Wombat's new SmishGuru attack
simulation service enables security officers to:
-- Mitigate the risk their organization faces due to the use of smartphones
-- Protect corporate networks from Malware, Spyware and other malicious
software
-- Understand which employees are most susceptible and target them with
additional training
-- Provide a unique teachable moment that teaches employees at the point of
failure
-- Increase acceptance of security awareness training
Wombat's proven simulated attack methodology has shown success in
significantly reducing employee susceptibility while simultaneously
providing motivation for employees to take more in-depth training.
Ferrara continued, "Wombat also provides complementary software
training modules that can be used in conjunction with SmishGuru
providing a holistic approach to BYOD threats. Combining simulated
smishing attacks with interactive training modules that teach
employees about social engineering, smishing attacks, malicious URLs
and smartphone security ensures that employees will be better
prepared when using their smartphones."
For more information about SmishGuru, or Wombat's award winning
Security Training Platform, please visit www.wombatsecurity.com.
About Wombat Security Technologies
Wombat Security Technologies helps organizations combat cyber
security threats with uniquely effective software-based training
solutions for employees. Wombat offers fully automated, highly
scalable software-based training solutions, built on learning science
principles. They offer mock attacks with brief embedded training, as
well as a full complement of 10-minute software training modules.
Wombat's training solutions have been shown to reduce employee
susceptibility to attack over 80%. Wombat is helping Fortune 1000
customers, large government agencies and small to medium businesses
in segments such as finance, banking, higher education, retail,
technology, energy, insurance, and consumer packaged goods strengthen
their cyber security defenses. For more information visit
www.wombatsecurity.com or contact Lorraine Kauffman-Hall at
704-882-0443 or lhall@attainmarketing.com.
Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2013/2/18/11G003685/Images/Caution-Message-432148305163.jpg
Embedded Video Available: http://youtu.be/D-Wekc9-efw
Contact:
Lorraine Kauffman-Hall
<strong>
lhall@attainmarketing.com
</strong>
704-882-0443
or
Amy Baker
abaker@wombatsecurity.com
412-621-1484 x 115
SOURCE: Wombat Security Technologies, Inc.
mailto:lhall@attainmarketing.com
mailto:abaker@wombatsecurity.com
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