Protecting Government Agencies From Phishing Attacks

According to a 2018 survey of over 200 government IT and cybersecurity specialists, over 60% of government agencies experienced a security incident involving a mobile device. Government agencies have begun to embrace the cloud-first, mobile-first world, making data accessible from any device, anywhere. In fact, a recent poll from the Government Business Council found that nearly half of respondents have accessed work data when connected to external networks – i.e. not the agency network. And, while this gives users more flexibility and improves productivity, bad actors have taken advantage of this change and now target government employees with mobile phishing attacks.                    

That same poll found that 47% of respondents have encountered a phishing attack while conducting work via a mobile device. Phishing attacks have become increasingly more common and difficult to defend against as they’ve evolved to take advantage of the mobile-first, cloud-first and perimeter-less world.

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Securing the public sector: Lookout Phishing & Content Protection

While there has been broad adoption of mobile management tools, government agencies must continue to evolve defenses against sophisticated mobile phishing threats. Agencies need to move security to the endpoint and adopt a post-perimeter security solution that protects against phishing attacks that target users through SMS, messaging apps and social media. In fact, of the 47% that responded to having encountered a phishing attack, 29% received the phishing attempt via text, and 15% via social media.

Early detection of phishing attacks targeting any endpoint, mobile and otherwise, has become increasingly difficult in the post-perimeter world. Lookout Phishing & Content Protection is designed to keep the public sector secure from phishing attacks, without hindering productivity or invading user privacy. By continuously monitoring the health of devices that are accessing sensitive information, Lookout ensures that the public sector is secure from phishing attacks in the mobile-first, cloud-first and perimeter-less world.