If you've clicked on something you shouldn't have like a suspicious link, don't panic. Here are steps you can take to correct the problems that may arise from phishing emails.

1. PHISHING
EMAILS
What To Do If
You Click on a
Suspicious Link

2. We’ve all done it.
Even security pros make mistakes
when they’re tired or busy! If you’ve
clicked on something you shouldn’t
have, don’t panic. There are steps
you can take to correct the
problems that may arise.

3. If you’re part of a company,
call your IT department or
security department and
report the incident; this can
save you and your company
lots of time, headaches, and
problems down the road.
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4. If you’re not part of a company,
think back to what was asked
of you when you clicked.
Were you asked for some sort
of account credentials?
Were you asked to enter
a username and password?
Were you asked to download a
file and install a ‘program’?
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5. If the site asked you for an
account, and you entered
the credentials or you
entered a new username
and password, then you
have to take some pretty
quick and decisive action.
First, you need to determine if
you use that same user ID and
password combo anywhere
else. If you do, immediately go
to those places and change
your username and password.
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6. If you have an account with
the company mentioned in the
e-mail and entered those
credentials, call the company to tell
them that you might have given your
credentials to a nefarious group. Get
the company to change your
credentials immediately to help make
sure your account is safe.
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7. Monitor your important
accounts and make sure
nothing ‘funky’ is going on.
Change your passwords
in those key accounts to give
you maximum protection.
5

8. If you installed a program as a result
of the e-mail, there’s a good chance
you might have installed a virus,
Trojan horse, or other malicious piece
of software.
You need to clean your computer
and change most of your account
usernames and passwords on another
clean machine (or you can do it on your
own machine right after you clean it).
Call a professional and seek some
help if you don’t know what to do with
viruses and malware.
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9. You need to do these things as
soon as possible, but freaking out
only makes a bad situation worse.
Take a deep breath, form a plan of
action, and fix the things that can
be fixed immediately to stop any
further harm from occurring.

10. For more ways to protect
against phishing, check out
PHISHING
DARK WATERS
The Offensive and Defensive Sides
of Malicious E-mails
by Christopher Hadnagy and Michele Fincher