What is phishing? This word can be heard not so often, but not so rarely. Today, not everyone knows what phishing means and what it can be.
In this article, we will consider this concept in detail, paying attention to the different forms of its manifestation.
What does phishing mean
Phishing is a type of Internet fraud, the purpose of which is to gain access to confidential user data - logins and passwords. The word "phishing" comes from "fishing" - fishing, fishing ".
Thus, phishing means fishing for confidential information, mainly through social engineering.
Often, cybercriminals use simple but effective ways to obtain valuable information by sending mass emails on behalf of well-known brands, as well as private messages within various services, for example, on behalf of banks or within social networks.
We can say that phishing is a procedure for controlling the actions of the victim, hoping for her naivety and frivolity.
However, there are many ways you can help protect yourself from phishing. We will talk about this in more detail later.
Phishing in action
It is important for criminals to throw their victim off balance by making sure that she makes the wrong decisions in a hurry, and only then think about her actions.
For example, attackers can inform the user that if he does not urgently click on such and such a link, then his account will be blocked, etc. It is worth noting that even those who know about the possible types of phishing can be led by crooks.
Typically, criminals use emails or messages as bait. At the same time, such notifications usually look "official", as a result of which the user takes them seriously.
In such letters, a person, under various pretexts, is asked to go to the specified site, and then enter a username and password for authorization. As a result, as soon as you enter your personal information on a fake site, phishers will immediately find out about it.
Even if, to enter the payment system, you need to additionally enter the password sent to your phone, you will be persuaded to register it on the phishing site.
Phishing methods
Phishing by phone is becoming more and more popular today. A person may receive an SMS message with a request to urgently call back at the specified number in order to resolve the problem.
Further, an experienced phishing psychologist can extract the information he needs, for example, the pin code of a credit card and its number. Unfortunately, every day a lot of people take such bait.
Also, cybercriminals often get hold of classified information through the Internet sites or social networks you visit. An interesting fact is that at the moment phishing on social networks has an efficiency of about 70%.
For example, a fake link could lead to a website that is supposedly an online store, where you can easily enter your personal credit card information in the hope of a successful purchase.
In fact, such scams can have a very different look, but the goal of phishers is always the same - to obtain confidential data.
How to avoid getting caught in a phishing attack
Now some browsers warn users about a possible threat when switching to a particular resource. Also, large e-mail services, when suspicious letters appear, warn customers of potential danger.
To protect yourself from phishing, you should only use official sites, for example, from browser bookmarks or from a search engine.
It is important not to forget that bank employees will never ask you for your password. Moreover, banks, on the contrary, encourage their clients not to transfer personal data to anyone.
If you take this information seriously, you can protect yourself from phishing attacks.
