How to Protect Yourself Against Phishing
Phishing is an online scam that targets individuals and companies, seeking to obtain passwords or PII (personally identifiable information). It involves an email or instant message directing you to a malicious website or an attachment.
Spear phishing is a more targeted form of phishing that requires special knowledge about an organization, its power structure, and the people within it. It consists of an attack where the perpetrator researches names of employees in a specific department and emails them a fraudulent document, such as project invoices.
Brand spoofing is one of the most common techniques in phishing attacks. It involves changing a target brand name or identity in the address of a phishing site to make it seem like it’s a legitimate one, such as Amazon, Paypal, Apple, WhatsApp, Netflix and Microsoft Office.
The F5 Labs 2020 Phishing and Fraud Report shows that 52% of phishing sites in the second half of 2020 used target brands or identities in their website addresses, with Amazon, PayPal, and Netflix among the top five most targeted brands.
Email phishing is a major cybersecurity concern, with the number of attacks on email accounts rising year-on-year. A phishing attack may lead to stolen banking details, credit card details, or other personal data that can be used for identity theft.
Fortunately, there are a few things that you can do to help protect yourself against these scams. The first is to ensure that your antivirus software is up-to-date, and use a good firewall to control inbound and outbound traffic.