Phishing – How to Protect Yourself From Phishing Attacks
Using social engineering techniques, an attacker masquerades as a legitimate company or person, gaining access to his or her target’s account. Once the information is compromised, the crook can use it to make fraudulent charges on a credit card.
The most common phishing schemes involve email phishing. An email phishing message will usually include a link to a spoofed website, which will download malware. This malware is then delivered to the local network, where it steals data.
Another phishing trick involves sending a fake invoice to the victim. It may also request payment or government funds, if the phishing scheme is targeting a government agency.
Another phishing trick involves the use of a malicious link, which will take the recipient to an attacker-controlled server. This will typically redirect the user to a spoofed login page, which will then send the crook credentials.
A more sophisticated phishing scheme can include an automated call center and the use of SMS text messages. The attacker may be trying to gain remote access to the corporate network.
The phishing name of the day is the ‘love bug of 2000’. The worm overwrote files on the victim’s computer. It copied itself to the user’s contact list. It was a bogus, but still a clever trick.
While the “love bug of 2000” was a cleverly constructed and aw-shucks, it was actually just a small worm.
The most important phishing trick is to not click on the links in the phishing emails. Rather, you should use caution when responding to urgent messages.