Phishing works because it is generic. The same "invoice attached", "document shared with you" and "shipment delayed" goes to a million inboxes, and the sender only needs a few people to wonder what it is. Curiosity is the product. The good news: you know something the attacker does not — what your business actually deals with.
Know your own mail
Every business has a shape. A dental office receives lab work, supplier invoices, patient correspondence, insurer paperwork. It does not receive freight manifests, "your DocuSign from the legal team", or an RFP from a government it has never dealt with. A logistics company receives dispatch, fuel, maintenance and customs paperwork — and never a "shared clinical results" file. When an email does not fit the shape of your business, the correct reaction is not curiosity. It is a raised eyebrow.
The five that get everyone
- The shared document from a name you almost recognise, with no context.
- The voicemail attachment — your phone system does not email voicemails, or if it does, you know exactly what those look like.
- The parcel you did not order, held for a small "customs fee".
- The payroll or HR update that needs you to "confirm your details".
- The reply to a conversation you never had — "as discussed, see attached".
Curiosity has a safe outlet
You do not have to suppress it — redirect it. Forward the message to your IT team and ask "what is this?" We enjoy answering that question; it usually takes us a minute, and it tells us what is circulating. Every message our customers forward makes the filter better for everyone else.
Why this matters more than it seems
Staff awareness is the layer that costs nothing and stops the most. The filters catch the bulk; the firewall and endpoint protection catch what slips past; monitoring catches what those miss. But the fastest, cheapest interception is a person thinking "we don't get emails like this" and not opening it. Train that instinct in your team — a ten-minute conversation over coffee does more than a policy document — and let us handle everything that gets past it.
