Phishing emails are a type of online scam that targets individuals by sending them an email that appears to be from a well-known source. Phishing is the preferred method for attackers to compromise an organization and our entire Fermilab community is constantly under attack. The cybersecurity team has been observing an increase in phishing attempts, with individuals posing as senior leaders, vendor representatives, and even Fermilab employees, to steal valuable information or disrupt our services. Cybersecurity and IT have defenses in place to prevent most phishing attacks, but not all. Cybersecurity gets approximately 200 reports of phishing emails each month, and we know there are many more that are not reported.
Beginning March 9, 2023, if you have a Fermilab email account, you will be able to easily report suspicious phishing emails to the Fermilab cybersecurity team by clicking the PhishAlarm button. This button will be available on both Windows and Mac Outlook desktop clients and WebMail (email.fnal.gov). For Outlook desktop clients, the button is located on the far right of the ribbon of the Home or Message tab. For WebMail, click the three dots … icon in the upper right corner of the email and select “Report Phish to Fermi” from the drop-down menu. You may need to restart Outlook for the button to appear.
When you click the PhishAlarm button, the reported email will be forwarded to the cybersecurity team for review and moved to your Deleted Items folder. For detailed instructions on how to use the PhishAlarm button, see this article (you must log into ServiceNow at servicedesk.fnal.gov to view this article): https://fermi.servicenowservices.com/kb_view.do?sysparm_article=KB0014674.
Please remember, cybersecurity is everyone’s responsibility. By reporting suspicious phishing emails, you are helping Fermilab better defend against cyber attackers. For more information about phishing emails, see this webpage: https://computing.fnal.gov/securityawareness/category/phishing/.
If you have any questions about this message, please send them to cybersecurity@fnal.gov.