Protect Against Phishing Attacks

What is Phishing and How is It Evolving?

Click! And the message is already sent. Click! Transfer done. Click! Paid for the new shoes. No question: the Internet has simplified our lives.

Unfortunately also that of scammers. Because they target by email, websites, phone calls, and messengers with the intention to cause great damage to our confidential information. It’s called phishing. And it doesn’t just affect private individuals. Phishing is now a major threat to companies.

How is phishing evolving, and what can you do to protect yourself? These are some questions we are happy to answer for you. Best through education. Here you go:

What Is Phishing?

The word phishing means identity theft.

Cybercriminals use this technique to fraudulently obtain confidential information from users or recipients. They send a fake email as bait to “fish” for personal information and passwords.

What Are Fake Emails?

They are emails that contain false information and links that redirect your responses to false internet pages with forms and questions to obtain your personal data.

These emails may appear as communications from banks, payment services, online shopping marketplaces, or utility providers.

In general, these emails request:

  • fill in forms or click on a link to obtain some key information or file;
  • visiting a fake registration page by clicking on a link;
  • download an important attachment.

You will love: What is DMARC?

How is Phishing Evolving?

Phishing activity increased more than double this April compared to May 2020, according to the Anti Phishing Working Group’s (APWG) new report.

It is at an all-time high; 1 million attacks in just the first half of 2022. It’s not just a growing, but a multiplying threat.

The bad news is that phishing is going to adopt techniques and technology that the commercial industry uses today to generate relevant content, making it more difficult to avoid this type of threat. Added to the use of Deepfake tools to create photorealistic images, audio, and videos, it will only make it more difficult to discern if something is false or true.

How Do I Protect Against Phishing Attacks?

Cybercriminals are clever; they will use advanced and creative ways to steal your data. Learning to recognize a fake website and email, protecting your data, and being cautious when you receive daily mail can help you avoid falling victim to the phishing scam.

  • OV/EV certificates on the website may indicate that the website is not fraudulent – you can check them in the address bar of your browser.
  • Fraudsters often use confusingly similar addresses for their websites. Be careful!
  • Whenever you receive a suspicious email, be cautious before clicking on any links in it.
  • Carefully read the language of the message – attacked ones often contain typos, syntax, or spelling errors.
  • You should not provide your password or credit card number if you are unsure of the site’s security.
  • Do not enter data that is redundant – the bank or the transaction service will never ask you for the balance of your account.
  • Where possible, use two-factor authentication – password + SMS.
  • Carefully read the text of SMSes authorizing banking transactions.
  • Disable the SMS Premium service on your phone.
  • Password generators prevent fraudsters from accessing other services, even if one service’s password is leaked.

GOOD TO KNOW

Reputable service providers never ask their customers to enter passwords or credit card details by email or short message.

Now that you know everything about phishing, carefully check emails carefully and avoid falling victim to this type of online attack. But aside from this scam, many types of social engineering attacks are worth knowing about, so you can avoid them. Cybercriminals can be very creative!

FAQs

Question: How does phishing impact society?
Answer: Phishing tricks victims into handing over credentials for sensitive accounts, such as email, corporate intranets, and more. Even for cautious users, it is sometimes difficult to detect a attack. Lack of awareness is the big reason it significantly had a bad impact on society.

Question: What is a real-life example of phishing?
Answer: Did you get an email that says you won XXX amount and asks you to click the link to credit it to your account? I’m sure your answer is ‘yes’. This is one of the most common real-life examples of phishing.

Question: Why is phishing the most common?
Answer: Due to its many forms, such as emails, phone calls, and texts, phishing is one of the most common cyber attacks.

Question: When did phishing become a problem?
Answer: The first time someone used the term ‘phishing.’ During the 1990s, hackers pretended to be AOL administrators to phish for login credentials. During that time, the internet was on the rise, and a lot of people wanted to try it. As we began doing everything on the internet, scammers got a pool of opportunities to steal sensitive data.

Question: What are some phishing 2022 statistics?
Answer: A huge increase in phishing attacks occurred in 2022’s first quarter, with 94% of malware being delivered via email. Additionally, throughout the first quarter of 2022, CheckPoint’s Brand Phishing Report revealed over half (52%) of all phishing attacks used the professional social networking site as a target.

Reference:

https://apwg.org/trendsreports/

https://www.phishing.org/what-is-phishing

 

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