14/10/2025
❗️'Vishing' is on the rise, and YOU need to stay alert. One wrong call could cost your business far more than you think. Here's how...
'Vishing' is short for voice phishing. It’s when a cyber criminal calls you up pretending to be someone they’re not, like an IT technician, a bank employee, or even a government official.
Their goal?
To trick you into handing over information or giving them access they shouldn’t have.
And it’s not just small businesses falling for it.
Even Cisco, one of the biggest names in tech, recently admitted it was hit by a vishing attack.
Here’s what happened: A criminal phoned a Cisco representative, managed to convince them they were legitimate, and gained access to a third-party system Cisco uses to store customer data. That data included names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, and account IDs.
Now, while no passwords or confidential business data were stolen, the information that was taken could still be misused.
Cyber criminals can sell it on the dark web, or worse, use it to create highly targeted phishing emails that look even more convincing. Imagine getting an email that mentions your real account details.
You’d be much more likely to trust it, right?
The Cisco case is a wake-up call. If a global tech giant can be tricked over the phone, any business can.
So, what can you do?
1️⃣ Make sure your team knows that cyber criminals use phone calls as well as emails.
2️⃣ Always verify a caller before acting on their instructions, especially if they’re asking for access, payments, or sensitive info.
3️⃣ Be cautious with any emails or calls that create urgency (“you must act right now”), as this is one of the oldest tricks in the book.
Cyber criminals are experts at impersonation. Your best defence is awareness and a healthy dose of scepticism.
If someone from “IT support” called your business right now asking for access, how confident are you that your team would know what to do?
