How to Avoid Electronic Signing Service Scams

Although utilizing an electronic signing service can be a convenient way for your organization to digitally sign and exchange important documents (e.g., contracts, tax documents and legal materials) with stakeholders, doing so also carries significant cybersecurity risks.

Cybercriminals can utilize a variety of scamming techniques to trick electronic signing service users into sharing sensitive information, such as their signature, financial information and other personal data. From there, the criminals can use that information for a range of destructive purposes—including identity theft and other costly forms of fraud. These scams have become an increasingly prevalent threat in the midst of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, as many organizations have transitioned to fully remote operations.

In fact, DocuSign—a popular electronic signing service provider—recently released a statement regarding several new phishing scams that cybercriminals have implemented to fool victims into thinking they are using DocuSign’s services. These scams entail the victim receiving a fraudulent email that appears to be from DocuSign, urging them to either click on a malicious link (which then downloads malware on the individual’s device) or provide their personal information (which scammers then access to commit fraud).

Whether your organization uses DocuSign or a different electronic signing service, it’s important to educate yourself and your stakeholders—including employees, investors, customers and suppliers—on how to detect and avoid falling victim to these phishing scams. That being said, consider the following cybersecurity tips:

• Be wary of responding to emails that claim to be an electronic signature request—especially if you weren’t expecting a request or don’t recognize the name of the individual or organization sending the request. Trusted senders would let you know they are sending a signature request before doing so.
• Never click on links from electronic signature emails that appear suspicious—especially if the URLs for those links redirect to websites that aren’t secure or recognizable.
• Review electronic signature emails for generic wording, grammatical errors and misspellings (both in the body of the email and within the sender’s email address). These mistakes are often key indicators of a phishing scam.

Cybersecurity Trends to Prepare for in 2021

This past year saw a wide range of changes and advancements in workplace technology utilization for organizations of varying sectors and sizes. But as digital offerings continue to evolve, so do cybersecurity threats. That’s why it’s crucial to remain up-to-date on the latest technology trends and adjust your cyber risk management strategies accordingly. As your organization starts to prepare for 2021, keep the following emerging cybersecurity concerns in mind:

• Remote work issues—While remote working is a valuable method for protecting staff from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, this practice can also lead to increased cybersecurity vulnerabilities for your organization. After all, many employees may not have the same security capabilities in their work-from-home arrangements as they do in the workplace. As such, make sure your organization provides remote staff with appropriate cybersecurity training and resources, as well as implements effective workplace policies and procedures regarding cybersecurity.   
• Cloud hijacking concerns—Especially with more employees working from home than ever before, maintaining cloud security is crucial. Cloud breaches have become more common in the past year, as cybercriminals have developed a method for hijacking cloud infrastructures via credential-stealing malware. To avoid this concern, utilize trusted anti-malware software and update this software regularly.   
• Elevated ransomware threats—Cybercriminals continue to create new and improved ransomware attack methods each year. According to recent research from Cybersecurity Ventures, ransomware attacks are expected to cost organizations more than $20 billion in 2021, with an attack estimated to take place every 11 seconds. To help protect your organization from ransomware attacks, use a virtual private network, place security filters on your email server and educate staff on ransomware prevention.
• Data privacy expectations—As more and more organizations start storing sensitive information on digital platforms, data privacy is a growing concern. If your organization stores sensitive information digitally, it’s vital to utilize proper security techniques to protect such data (e.g., encryption) and abide by all relevant data privacy regulations.
• Skills shortages—Despite ongoing advancements in workplace technology, cybersecurity skills shortages have become a major issue for many organizations—with the demand for cybersecurity professionals exceeding the number of individuals that are qualified for such a role. This shortage emphasizes the importance of investing in effective cybersecurity tools across all workplace devices to help minimize your risks. 

With these trends in mind, it’s important now more than ever for your organization to secure adequate cyber insurance. Otherwise, you run the risk of your organization lacking the appropriate coverage and dealing with hefty out-of-pocket costs in the event of a cyber incident.

Smart Device Security Best Practices

As remote work continues to be a popular offering for many organizations, some employees have begun taking advantage of their own smart devices—such as smartphones or tablets—for work-related purposes.

While this practice can certainly help employees expand their remote work capabilities, utilizing smart devices within a work setting can lead to elevated cybersecurity risks. This is because your employees’ smart devices may not be initially equipped with the security measures necessary to defend against cybercriminals, thus increasing the likelihood of a cyberattack taking place.

Don’t let employees’ smart devices lead to a cybersecurity disaster within your organization. Utilize the following guidance to promote smart device security:

• Establish a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy that includes standards employees must uphold when using their smart devices for work-related purposes.
• Have employees create complex passwords for their smart devices. Encourage staff to enable multifactor authentication on their devices, if possible.
• Restrict employees from connecting to public Wi-Fi networks on their smart devices. Be sure to establish a virtual private network for staff to use to ensure a safe, secure connection.

Have employees conduct routine software updates on their smart devices to prevent potential security gaps.

For additional cybersecurity guidance and coverage, contact Libertate Insurance today, we are offering Cybersecurity Programs.