Malware / Spyware knowledge for sales rep
When prospecting or interacting with leads and customers, is your email spyware or malware? What about the emails that you receive?
Understanding what malware and spyware are can make you more vigilant and also build trust with your leads and customers knowing that you pay special attention when you send your emails.
What is malware?
Shorthand for malicious software, malware is the name used to describe a collection of malicious software variants such as viruses, ransomware, and spyware.
Malware is a code created by cyber-attackers to gain unauthorized access to a network system thereby causing damages – which are sometimes irreversible – to data. It is usually sent in the form of a link or a file that requires an unsuspecting user to click a link or open a file to activate the malware.
What is spyware?
Spyware is a type of malware and it is installed to invade an unsuspecting user’s device. It retrieves private and sensitive information (such as credit card numbers, banking information, and passwords of clients) which is sold to third-party users which can be advertising firms, data firms, or even individual users.
If the software is downloaded without the user’s consent, it can be classified as spyware. If it has the potential to violate the end user’s privacy and can be abused even though downloaded with the user’s authorization, it is spyware.
Malware in sales emails and how to recognize it.
As we know, malware attacks either destroy valuable, sensitive data or breach privacy and retrieve and sell data to third-party users without the user’s authorization. Sales representatives cannot afford to be careless about client’s information and should do all they can to protect client’s safety as it pertains to their online transactions. Hence, it is important to know how to identify malware and treat it as separate from regular mails.
Below are simple tips to identify a malware mail:
- Sender’s email address is suspicious: The rule ‘if it is too good to be true, then it is not true’ applies here as well. The first thing you should look out for in emails as a sales representative is the sender’s email address. If it does not match the domain name of the company or it is completely unfamiliar, then it is safe to treat it as malware. A mail from FedEx will come only from fedex.com and nothing different.
- Be keen on mails that disguise themselves as sales invoices, delivery notices, and even court notices. These kinds of emails usually do not come from known and expected addresses. Pay close attention to the sender’s email address.
- When an email asks you to confirm or enter an information using an attachment, it is not safe to open such an attachment. Especially when the sender’s email address is unfamiliar.
- When an email entices you to open an attachment to obtain an information that would have been passed in the body of the message, do not open it. An email from a reputable source will usually tell you all you need to know in the body of the mail.
- When you have your username in the subject of the email, or alternatively, your username is in the attachment filename and the subject of the email is empty, flag it as a malware. Normal emails have subject line filled in and without your username.
- When an email contains an instruction to click or follow a link, ignore it. Malicious emails contain links that can lead to malware that can attack your computer.
- If it sounds urgent, sounds like a threat or contains a warning, ignore it. Malicious mails due to their opportunistic behavior, tend to incite fear, worry or urgency. Watch out for emails that contains something like ‘A distressed orphan needs your help now!’
- Emails from reputable sources usually will contain a mix of text, images and email signatures and they are written with HTML. Malwares rarely have images and have plain formatting.
- If the email begins with a generic greeting such as ‘Dear Customer’ or ‘Hi Dear’, it might be malware.
- If it shows other recipients other than you that cannot be displayed or disclosed, it might be malware.
Conclusion
Below are the differences between spyware and malware:
| MALWARE | SPYWARE
|
|
| 1. | Malware is any file or any code specifically designed to destroy a user’s personal computer or network. | Spyware is a form of malware designed to steal your personal information
|
| 2. | Malware is more harmful than spyware.
|
Spyware is less harmful than malware |
| 3. | Malware has the ability to replicate itself and make several duplicate copies of itself. | Spyware cannot replicate itself.
|
| 4. | Malware can easily be detected and eliminated by the antivirus program. | Spyware can be detected and disabled by the antispyware program. |
| 5. | It slows down performance, destroy data and cause system error. | Collects/steals data of user which it sells to other third party users. |
Knowing all the above is extremely useful in the interaction with prospects and customers to build and develop trusty relationships.