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What is phishing-as-a-service (PhaaS)?

Written by Sara Nguyen | February 15, 2022

The number one threat to your email security is carefully crafted social engineering scams, especially phishing emails. Even a strong cybersecurity network is vulnerable to negligent employees opening a malicious email.

HIPAA compliant healthcare organizations should remain vigilant against threats to their sensitive data. Phishing emails are no exception. Especially since the introduction of phishing as-a-service and how it has developed a new generation of cybercriminals.

 

What is phishing-as-a-service (PhaaS)

 

Phishing-as-a-service (PhaaS) uses the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model to sell access to tools and software to send phishing emails. Cybercriminals use their knowledge to create phishing kits that let their customers carry out a phishing attack.

It has grown in popularity in recent years due to convenience. PhaaS vendors can make money from their skillset without taking on more risk. Meanwhile, people who buy PhaaS have a fast and relatively simple way to launch phishing attacks.

Read more: What is ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS)?

 

What makes PhaaS particularly dangerous to healthcare organizations?

 

In the past, it would take skill and expertise to develop and launch a phishing campaign. That's not the case anymore. PhaaS is widely available, and it can cost cybercriminals as little as $40 for a basic phishing kit.

The kits include email templates and realistic fake websites that are designed to steal credentials or payment information. Some of the higher-paying subscription models also include features like email delivery, site hosting, and "fully undetected" links and logs.

PhaaS removes the technical and financial barriers to running a phishing campaign. Subsequently, this means a regular person could turn into a sophisticated cybercriminal with a quick purchase. 

 

How can organizations protect themselves from phishing attacks?

 

Phishing emails are a vulnerability to your employees. One study estimates that 1 in 3 employees are likely to fall victim to a phishing email.

The same study has some good news though. When employees underwent one year of ongoing cybersecurity awareness training, only 4.8% of employees fell victim to a phishing email.

Read more: Why investing in ongoing cybersecurity training is good business

Employee awareness training is critical to preventing attacks, but there is still the risk of human error. And it's not a risk that healthcare organizations can afford to take.

Paubox Email Suite Plus can help prevent your employees from interacting with a phishing email. It has robust inbound security tools that can block malicious emails from even entering an employee's inbox.

Say goodbye to phishing attacks, spam, malware, and viruses. Paubox takes a zero trust approach to protect your inbox.

Our HIPAA compliant email security solution is the advanced technology you need to keep data secure.

 

Try Paubox Email Suite Plus for FREE today.