What is a phishing attack?

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Have you ever received a suspicious email asking to click a link to reset password or a phone call seeking bank account details? Then it might be a suspected phishing attempt. As more and more users adopt the digital payments route, cybercrimes are also on the rise. One of the common forms of cyberattack where people are increasingly vulnerable is a phishing attack.

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What is phishing

Phishing is a fraudulent practice where cyber attackers pose as legitimate entities and communicate via an email or a phone call to gain sensitive and confidential information such as passwords, credit card details etc. Both individuals and organisations may be vulnerable to phishing attacks and it can target hundreds of victims at any given point of time.

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How fraudsters pull off phishing

Now, how do these attacks work? Typically, there are multiple ways through which phishing attempts are made. Usually the attacker, who pretends to be from a legitimate organisation, sends an email or SMS which includes a malicious link that redirects the user to a fake website. The fake website is set up in such a way that the user is tricked into giving personal and financial information.

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Cyber hackers gather the victim’s information such as personal interests, work history and other activities for personalised and believable communication.

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How to stay safe: devil is in the details

Now, what do you do to prevent such attacks? Even though phishing attempts have a sophisticated way of communication, we can always pick up some clues and signs by being attentive to the details. For instance, typical phishing attempts have misspelt or suspicious URLs. The email has a sense of urgency and requests you to verify personal information or an SMS that asks for confidential information such as credit card details, bank account details or other sensitive passwords.

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Users can also install safety filters into devices and systems such as anti-virus software, spam filters or anti-phishing toolbars. People can also maintain internet hygiene by regularly updating browsers, changing passwords frequently and blocking unnecessary pop-ups.

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Originally appeared on: TheSpuzz