Phishing is an email fraud method in which the perpetrator sends out legitimate-looking emails to obtain personal and financial information from recipients.
What is phishing?
Phishing is an email fraud method in which the perpetrator sends out legitimate-looking emails to obtain personal and financial information from recipients. The messages are usually sent from established and trustworthy websites. Through these email messages, recipients may be asked to provide credit card numbers, social security numbers, or other personal information to fraudulent websites.
Types of phishing
Email phishing: Attackers send deceptive emails that appear to be from legitimate sources, urging recipients to click on malicious links or provide personal information such as credit card numbers or account numbers.
Spear phishing: In spear-phishing, sensitive information is stolen from a specific victim, often for malicious purposes. Personal information on the victim is gathered, such as their friends, hometown, employer, locations they frequent, and what they recently bought online. Attackers then disguise themselves as trustworthy friends or entities using email or other online messaging.
Smishing: Smishing is a cybersecurity attack carried out through text messages, also known as SMS phishing. It occurs in many mobile text messaging channels, including non-SMS channels like data-based mobile messaging apps, where victims are deceived into providing sensitive information to a disguised attacker. Malware or fraudulent websites can assist in SMS phishing.
Vishing: The purpose of vishing is to trick users into divulging sensitive information. Scammers use fraudulent phone numbers, voice-altering software, text messages, and social engineering to deceive users.
Whaling: Whaling is similar to spear-phishing attacks but directed at high-level executives. Attackers masquerade as legitimate, known, and trusted entities to encourage a victim to share highly sensitive information. The victim may be asked to provide sensitive data such as payroll information, tax returns, and bank account numbers or authorize a wire transfer to a fraudulent bank account.
Pharming: Pharming involves a hacker hijacking the Domain Name Server (DNS), which converts URLs from plain language to IP addresses. It is harder to detect than other forms of phishing. DNS redirection leads users to a malicious website when they enter the target site's URL.
Effects of phishing on individuals and organizations
Financial Losses: Both individuals and organizations may suffer significant economic losses due to phishing attacks. Hackers may use stolen credit card information to make unauthorized purchases or conduct fraudulent transactions.
Identity Theft: Phishing attacks allow attackers to steal sensitive information such as addresses, Social Security numbers, and birthdates. This data can be used to open fraudulent accounts, apply for loans, or commit other financial crimes.
Compromised Accounts: Individuals who fall for phishing scams can have their accounts compromised, allowing unauthorized access to sensitive information or misuse for further phishing attacks.
Data Breaches: Once attackers gain access to an employee's account, they can infiltrate company systems and steal customer data, intellectual property, and other sensitive information.
Reputational Damage: Phishing scams can damage an individual's or organization's reputation. Falling for a phishing scam and losing money or sensitive information can have long-term consequences for trust in online platforms. For businesses, data breaches resulting from successful phishing attacks can lead to loss of customer trust and damage to their brand image.
Productivity Loss: Phishing attacks may result in productivity losses for organizations. Employees may lose access to their accounts or spend time resolving security issues, reducing general productivity.
Cost of Remediation: Recovering from a successful phishing attack can be expensive for organizations.
How To Spot A Phishing Attack?
The best way to avoid a phishing scam is to learn the types of phishing attacks users may experience. Hackers often have more success phishing employees because they spend most of their day clicking on links and downloading files for work. Here are a few examples of misleading information scammers use to entice users to interact with their emails:
· Notifications of fake shipping or delivery.
· Creating fake invoices and purchase confirmations.
· Inquiries about personal information.
· Offers of attractive rewards.
· Scams involving charity or gift cards.
· Language that sounds urgent or threatening.
How to protect yourself from phishing attacks?
o Protect your computer by using security software. Ensure the software automatically updates to take care of any new security threats that arise.
o Protect your cell phone by setting the software to update automatically.
o Protect your accounts by using multi-factor authentication. Some accounts offer extra security by requiring two or more credentials to log in, which is called multi-factor authentication. Multi-factor authentication makes it harder for scammers to log in to your accounts if they get your username and password.
o Protect your data by backing it up. Make sure you back up the data on your computer to an external hard drive or the cloud. Be sure to back up the data on your phone as well.
What To Do if You Responded to a Phishing Email?
If you think a scammer has your information, such as your Social Security number, bank account number, or credit card details, immediately contact your bank/credit card company to close the account and open a new one.
If you think you clicked on a link or opened an attachment that downloaded harmful software, update your computer's security software. Then run a scan and remove anything it identifies as a problem.
How To Report Phishing?
o If you receive a phishing email, forward it to the Anti-Phishing Working Group at reportphishing@apwg.org
o Report it to your Internet Service Provider (ISP).
o Report phishing attempts to the FTC through their website at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
o Report to the Government: In many countries, government agencies have dedicated departments for cybercrime and online fraud reporting.
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