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12/07/2026 12:15 pm
TL;DR: Phishing remains a major enterprise threat because attackers exploit sender identity cues, urgency, and hidden links, and the article argues that user education, digital signatures, and basic verification steps reduce risk, according to GlobalSign. The control gap is not awareness alone but consistently checking identity and destination before action.
NHIMG editorial — based on content published by GlobalSign: how to spot phishing emails and fake legitimacy cues
By the numbers:
- 95% of the attacks are the result of successful spear phishing.
Questions worth separating out
Q: How should organisations reduce phishing risk when users still receive convincing spoofed emails?
A: Organisations should combine technical message authentication with user verification habits.
Q: Why do phishing attacks still succeed even when people know the warning signs?
A: Because awareness alone does not overcome urgency, distraction, and channel trust.
Q: What do organisations get wrong about phishing prevention?
A: They often treat phishing as a training problem instead of an identity control problem.
Practitioner guidance
- Enforce sender validation for high-risk mail Require mail clients and gateways to surface the real sending domain, certificate status, and impersonation warnings for external or sensitive communications.
- Standardise digital signatures for internal email Use digital signatures on internal business email so recipients can distinguish verified messages from spoofed or relayed lookalikes.
- Build a simple verification path for unexpected requests Give staff a short, approved process for confirming unusual requests, such as a callback to a known number or a ticket in the service desk.
What's in the full article
GlobalSign's full article covers the practical detection cues and user-verification steps this post intentionally leaves at the source:
- Examples of spoofed sender fields, misleading domains, and fake legitimacy patterns used in phishing emails
- Step-by-step guidance on checking links, attachments, and email signatures before taking action
- The article's illustrated examples of suspicious message traits that help train users to spot social engineering
- Practical advice on when to verify with the sender or escalate a suspicious email to IT
👉 Read GlobalSign's guide to spotting phishing emails and fake legitimacy →
Phishing emails and fake legitimacy: what teams still miss?
Explore further
12/07/2026 12:29 pm
Phishing is an identity failure, not just a mail problem. The article is strongest when it treats sender identity, domain legitimacy, and digital signatures as part of the same trust chain. That framing matters because phishing succeeds when organisations ask users to make identity decisions with incomplete evidence. Security teams should treat email legitimacy as an identity assurance problem, not a training-only issue.
A question worth separating out:
Q: Who should handle suspicious email reports in an enterprise phishing process?
A: Security operations or the IT service desk should own the triage process, with a simple route for users to report suspicious messages. The team should confirm whether the email is legitimate, alert others if needed, and preserve indicators for pattern analysis. A visible reporting channel reduces repeat exposure and improves detection.
👉 Read our full editorial: Phishing detection still depends on sender trust and link checks
