How to Protect Yourself From Phishing Attacks
Phishing is one of the most common cyberattacks and is a serious threat to users’ personal information and security. Attackers use phishing attacks to steal sensitive information like passwords, credit card numbers and bank account details which can be used for identity theft and other malicious purposes. The attackers are able to gather this information with fake emails and Internet pages designed to look legitimate but which contain malware to collect personal data.
Attackers impersonate well-known institutions and brands in phishing attempts, such as banks and online retailers, to increase the likelihood that their victims will fall for their scams. They often create urgency in their messages using phrases such as ‘your account will be deactivated’ or ‘your parcel will be delivered to a non-existent address’ to persuade their victims into taking immediate action. Spelling and grammatical mistakes and a sense of incongruity in the email or website content can also be used to lure victims.
Other popular phishing tactics include pop-up windows which warn that the victim’s computer is infected and the only way to remove the virus is by installing a certain piece of software which turns out to be malware. Attackers also employ link manipulation techniques to trick victims into clicking on their malicious links. For example, hovering the cursor over a link can reveal that the real URL is different from the text shown, or it may appear to be safe but actually contains a hidden’redirect loop’ to send the victim back to the attacker’s page.