Clickbait

Clickbait is Internet content that uses overemphasized or misleading headlines to lure a person into clicking a link. Once the link is clicked, it brings the user to another website that contains multiple advertisements and sometimes malicious content. The most common objective of clickbait is to drive page views on websites, whether for their own purposes or to increase advertising revenue. Clickbait can also be used in phishing attacks, either driving users to a different page where they enter personal information or having users click links that installs malware. 

Some examples of clickbait headlines would be: 

• Man Tries To Hug Wild Lion, You Won’t Believe What Happens Next!
• The Scary New Science That Shows Milk Is Bad for You
• He Thought It Was Bigfoot’s Skull, But Then Experts Told Him THIS

Clickbait headlines like these tend to spread quickly through social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram due to the easy ‘shareability’ of these outlandish articles. 

Source: BBC, TechCrunch, Webopedia

Related Terms: Disinformation, Malware, Phishing

Should SMBs be concerned about Click Bait?

Businesses should have a security awareness training program that educates employees on the risks they face online. Click bait is one topic that should be covered to protect your employees from drive-by downloads, malicious websites, or plain old productivity lost when employees click through 50 pages of “Celebrities who lost weight: before and after Pictures!” By educating your staff on phishing attacks and clickbait, it can significantly reduce the risk of compromised credentials, other security breaches, and even wasted time. CyberHoot believes employees are the best line of defense a business has.  They are a key component of your overall cybersecurity strategy and program. By embracing these techniques, SMBs can ensure their workforce is prepared for the many common and emerging threats they face. Training staff on spotting and avoiding phishing attacks, social engineering, ransomware, password hygiene, two-factor authentication requirements, Wi-Fi insecurities, and other threats greatly reduces the chances of becoming victims to hackers.  Pick a training system that is open (CyberHoot is), so you can pivot quickly and train your team up on emerging threats.

To learn more about Clickbait, watch this short 2 minute video:

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