How To Deal Phishing Attacks
Most people would have probably seen it but are unaware of it. You receive an email, phone call, or text message from your bank or funding company asking for your information. It might appear to be real, but it’s built to track you in handing over important information. This is a scam called Phishing which you need to avoid. Most of us are used to doing business online, we buy and sell things, we have accounts with sensitive information.
The risk of doing business online is low as long as you deal directly with organizations your trust. Problems crop up when offenders impersonate these organizations to make you believe they are authentic and collect sensitive information like account numbers, pin numbers, and passwords. The key to avoiding this scam is awareness. For example, you receive an email that looks like a trustworthy message from the bank, it may ask you to click a link to verify information. You may assume its true and login to what appears to be your bank’s website at this point he phishing is complete. You have now handed over your bank password to the crooks who can use it to take your money.
What does a Phishing email look like?
- They are too good to trust
They pop attention-grabbing captions, eye-catching, or lucrative offers to gain people’s attention immediately. For instance, the ads may affirm that you have won a lavish prize, a million dollar lottery, or a new smartphone. You should not click any skeptical emails. Keep in mind that it may look too good to trust, it apparently is! - Hyperlinks
A hyperlink may not be the exact link what you think it appears to be. It might mislead you to many other unnecessary sites. It will be completely different from the actual URL you are looking for. These may look like some popular websites but come with a slight misspelling. Therefore, you need to scan with your eyes properly. - Unfamiliar sender
If you receive an email from someone you may not know or someone you think you know but something seems to be not right, then you just need to skip the message without clicking on it. - Unusual attachments
If you see any emails with an attachment that you were not expecting or does not make sense, do not click on it. It mostly contains some ransomware, spyware or, viruses. The .txt file is the only secure file type, which is safe to open.
How to stop phishing attacks in its tracks:
- The first thing you need to do is educate yourself to identify spam messages. There are also many other ways to cut down phishing attacks successfully.
- Setting up a gateway service would filter mass-targeted phishing emails and decreases the number of scams hitting your inbox.
- Company mail servers can make use of email authentication standard to filter verified emails.
- Web security gateways can provide another layer of defensive cover that blocks us from leading to malicious content. They work by screening the requested URLs against a regularly updated index of sites suspected of spreading spyware and malware.
- Various online resources help battle against phishing. The federal government’s OnGuardOnline website, anti-phishing working groups, etc. will have all the details on how to spot, refrain, and report phishing.
- Certain websites like MillerSmiles and FraudWatch distributes the most recent phishing email subject lines that are moving around the Internet.
- Cybersecurity awareness training programs like PhishMe or Anti-Phishing training suite can help employees spot and avoid frauds.