{"id":567,"date":"2026-07-08T11:06:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T09:06:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swissmediadesign.com\/?p=567"},"modified":"2026-07-31T09:39:05","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T07:39:05","slug":"phishing-emails-protection-for-small-businesses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swissmediadesign.com\/en\/phishing-mails-kmu-schutz\/","title":{"rendered":"Why your firm receives phishing emails and how to put a stop to them"},"content":{"rendered":"

This week, I received a message from a long-standing client: \u00abWe\u2019ve received the following email. Is it a scam?\u00bb The email looked deceptively genuine, and one member of staff had already opened the attachment. Fortunately, nothing happened. But this case is a prime example of what virtually every business in Switzerland faces on a daily basis: phishing emails that are becoming increasingly professional. In this post, I\u2019ll explain where the attackers got hold of your email address in the first place, why the forgeries are now almost impossible to spot, how you and your team should react correctly in an emergency, and what measure I\u2019ve taken to reduce my own spam to practically zero.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Fake
Looks genuine, but it isn\u2019t: the sender\u2019s domain has nothing to do with Hostpoint.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

How did they get hold of your email address?<\/h2>\n\n

Very few people realise that when you own a domain, your contact details are listed in a public directory. These entries are automatically scoured by spam and phishing networks; every newly registered or amended domain ends up in their databases within hours. On top of that, there are addresses harvested from websites, data leaks and purchased lists. The result: targeted emails sent to senior management and the accounts department, often using real names and plausible sender addresses.<\/p>\n\n

The new generation: AI-perfect forgeries in your hosting provider\u2019s name<\/h2>\n\n

Fake emails that appear to come from well-known Swiss hosting providers are currently particularly dangerous. The scam is insidious: every domain owner regularly receives genuine messages from their hosting provider, for example regarding invoices, domain renewals or payment methods. It is precisely these emails that are being faked, and thanks to AI, the language, logo, tone and structure are now spot on down to the last detail. The old tell-tale signs, such as typos or clumsy German, are no longer present. What remains are two reliable rules: check the sender\u2019s domain carefully, and never log in via a link in an email. Always type your hosting provider\u2019s address into the browser yourself. And if your domain and hosting are managed by a web partner, the simplest filter of all applies: genuine communications regarding your domain will come directly from your partner; any email purporting to be from your hosting provider and addressed directly to you is therefore suspect from the outset.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Warnings
Never enter your personal login details unless you are 100 per cent sure that the website is genuine.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

The three rules for an emergency<\/h2>\n\n

If a suspicious email arrives, the same simple procedure applies to all staff:<\/p>\n\n