What Is Smishing?

Texting is the fastest and most common form of communication in the world — about 8.4 trillion texts are sent a year globally, according to a recent report by SellCell. While texting is a great way communicate, the reality is that digital messaging can expose us to serious security risks. 

One of the most common and deceptive threats is smishing — a form of phishing delivered via SMS. In this article, we'll break down what smishing is, how to recognize the warning signs, and how to train your team to avoid falling for these increasingly sophisticated scams. 

But First…What is SMS?

SMS stands for Short Message Service. It dates back to the 1980s when members of the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) group proposed the idea of a messaging service that could send short messages over mobile networks.

Although the concept was conceived in the 80s, it wasn’t until 1992 that the first text message was ever sent. Throughout the next decade, SMS quickly became the most popular communication method in the world. Companies began using SMS for marketing, notifications, and authentication.

As of 2023, five billion people worldwide engage in text messaging via SMS. This number is even higher in the U.S. and Canada, with over 80% of the population utilizing SMS text messaging. Unfortunately, being such a frequently used and convenient medium of communication has made it an enticing channel of attack for hackers.

What is SMS Phishing or Smishing?

The term "phishing" is commonly used to describe cyber attacks where hackers trick users via email into giving away sensitive or personal information. Smishing follows a similar tactic but involves interaction via SMS texting instead of email. The term smishing comes from combining SMS and phishing.

Smishing attacks work much like email phishing. A victim receives a convincing text message from what appears to be a trusted or legitimate source. This message often includes a link that leads to a fake page designed to mimic a trusted website. The user is then prompted to enter login credentials or credit card information, which hackers can steal and exploit.

A common example of a smishing scam involves fake road toll payment alerts. In California, we see this being used on FasTrak users. The message claims there are “delayed payments” and urges users to click a link to avoid overages. Clicking the link leads to a fake page where the user is asked to provide login credentials. Once hackers have these credentials, they can access the actual FasTrak portal and steal credit card or bank information linked to the account.

How Phishing and Smishing Are Connected

Phishing and smishing can be considered part of the same family of cyber attacks. Both are social engineering tactics aimed at tricking users into giving away sensitive information. Let’s break down some of the most common traits they share:

1. Preying On Human Emotion: Hackers often try to make users feel an urgent need to respond or else they risk losing something valuable. In the example of the fake road toll payments, the fear of overage charges drives users to click the link quickly. Manipulating emotions is at the core of social engineering.

   
   

2. Convincing Messaging: In the past, smishing attacks were less effective due to obvious spelling mistakes or poorly written messages. However, with the rise of generative AI, hackers can now easily mass-produce convincing and well-written messages, making their attacks much more effective.

   
   

3. Links and Attachments: Smishing attacks commonly rely on links to lure victims into providing personal information. However, it doesn’t always require the victim to enter details after clicking the link—sometimes, simply clicking the link is enough to compromise a device or steal data.

   
   

4. Exploitation of Current Events: Smishing schemes often take advantage of current events or crises to appear more credible. For example, during recent wildfires in the Los Angeles area, scammers sent messages asking people to donate money to fake wildfire relief efforts. This approach not only tricks users into clicking links but also encourages them to send money directly to attackers.

By understanding these similarities, users can apply their knowledge of phishing attacks to spot the warning signs of smishing attacks. With this foundation, let’s dive into how you can identify and protect yourself against smishing.

How To Identify Smishing

Although smishing is a frequently used attack vector, it’s not necessarily complicated to spot. Users can usually recognize the common warning signs by following a few best practices:

1. Look for Misspellings or Bad Grammar: While generative AI is making it easier for attackers to produce cleaner messages, poorly written texts are still a major red flag. If you notice awkward phrasing, unusual grammar, or spelling mistakes, there’s a good chance it’s a smishing attempt.

   
   

2. Check for Suspicious Links: Most of the time, links in smishing texts are displayed as long, messy strings of random letters and numbers. If the link doesn’t look like it’s truly from the source it claims to be, avoid clicking on it. Official links are usually short, clean, and directly related to the organization’s name.

   
   

3. Be Cautious of Pressure or Urgency: Creating a sense of urgency is a classic tactic used in phishing attacks across all mediums. If a text message is demanding immediate action—like clicking a link to avoid penalties or claiming you’ll miss out on something important—it could be a smishing attempt.

While recognizing smishing attempts is crucial on a personal level, it’s equally important to consider the broader implications. When attackers successfully trick users of a business into sharing sensitive information or clicking malicious links, the damage can ripple throughout the entire organization. Let’s explore how smishing can impact a business by specifically targeting its users.

Smishing's Organizational Impact

When it comes to smishing attacks, the most dangerous aspect is how effectively they target the human element within an organization. Even with strong security systems in place, attackers often find success by exploiting user error and trust. Here’s how smishing can impact an organization:

1. Data Breaches: If employees unknowingly provide credentials or sensitive information via SMS, attackers can gain unauthorized access to corporate systems. This can result in stolen customer data, intellectual property, or financial information.

   
   

2. Financial Loss: Smishing attacks can lead to direct financial losses if users are tricked into making payments or transferring funds to fraudulent accounts. In sectors like finance and healthcare, this can be particularly damaging.

   
   

3. Reputational Damage: If customer data is compromised or employees fall victim to attacks, the trustworthiness of the business can be severely impacted.

   
   

4. Operational Disruption: Once hackers obtain user credentials, they can use them to cause further disruptions—such as locking users out of accounts, deploying ransomware, or initiating unauthorized changes within systems.

   
   

5. Compliance Violations: In industries with strict data protection regulations, falling victim to a smishing attack could result in compliance failures and hefty fines. Organizations are expected to implement strong user training and protection measures.

Smishing isn’t just a nuisance; it’s a genuine threat that can have far-reaching consequences for businesses of all sizes. This makes it critical for organizations to take proactive measures to educate and empower their users against these types of attacks.

How to Protect Yourself from Smishing

Like most social engineering attacks, there’s no single defense that can completely eliminate the threat of smishing. That’s what makes social engineering the #1 attack vector for breaching organizational defenses. So how can organizations effectively combat it?

1. Deploy Authentication-Based Protection: While you can’t stop every breach, you can limit the damage an attacker can do once they gain access. Implementing robust multi-factor authentication (MFA) tools, along with setting up alerts for suspicious internal activity, can significantly reduce the risk of attackers successfully compromising valuable systems.

   
   

2. Implement Mobile Security: This measure typically requires a Mobile Device Management (MDM) solution that covers business phones. MDM solutions can enforce security policies, restrict access to harmful links, and enhance the overall security posture of an organization’s mobile devices.

   
   

3. Training Users: The most effective way to defend against smishing is by properly training users to recognize and respond to suspicious messages. Building user awareness and promoting security best practices are essential to creating a resilient defense against these attacks.

Now let’s explore how organizations can bolster their security training and enhance user engagement to stay ahead of these evolving threats.

Bolstering Security Training and Engagement

Traditionally, security awareness training has been an annual checkbox that security teams must complete for compliance. It’s seen as a sunk cost that has little to no real impact on users. Let’s face it, we've all tried to speed-watch those videos and answer the questions as quickly as possible. The traditional approach to awareness training is broken, and this is where a security program must evolve to be more effective.

Studies have shown that routine, spaced learning is far more effective at driving retention and actual behavior change than a single training session. However, many security organizations are hesitant to burden their users with frequent training sessions that may take up valuable time—especially when it’s paid time away from work. This is where micro-trainings can offer an effective approach.

Implementing a Micro-Training Based Security Program

Microlearning can lead to 80% higher retention rates and 50% higher engagement rates, which is particularly important in corporate environments. With the ever-changing landscape of cyberattacks, a single training session once a year isn’t enough. To create an effective micro-learning environment, there are three simple steps:

1. Create 2–3 Minute Trainings: Utilize short, focused training sessions that cover one or two subjects and provide a brief, straightforward read. Keeping trainings concise helps prevent user fatigue and boosts retention.

   
   

2. Incorporate Interactive Elements: Having users press buttons, answer questions, or even type responses makes them more likely to retain information. Interaction enhances engagement, making users more likely to absorb and apply the training.

   
   

3. Determine a Normal Cadence: How often should trainings be delivered? Every day, week, month, or quarter? While more frequent training improves retention rates, daily training isn’t always practical in a work environment. Finding the right balance for your organization’s needs is essential to maximize effectiveness without causing frustration.

Once you’ve established these foundational elements, the next step is to deliver training through a medium users frequently use and can access with minimal effort. An effective micro-learning security program should be low friction, require minimal time commitment, and actively drive user engagement in security.

Building Herd Immunity

At Herd Security, we’re on a mission to help security teams build herd immunity among their users by making them active participants in organizational security. We do this by providing the tools needed to create a micro-training security program that is flexible and customizable to fit any organization’s requirements.

The best part? It seamlessly fits within your security awareness training and compliance budget, allowing you to spend less while achieving higher engagement from your users. All of this is accomplished while still meeting essential compliance frameworks.

Ready to see how it works? Contact us to book a demo!