Why Phishing Is Dangerous and How to Protect Yourself From It | Antivirus Software

Phishing is the most popular method of stealing data from Internet users. Most of us have heard and encountered phishing, but in many cases passed by without realizing what it is, how dangerous it is, and how to protect ourselves from it.

What is phishing?

The simplest definition of phishing is that it is a fraudulent method in which criminals, posing as representatives of trusted institutions, extort confidential data, most often passwords for entering electronic banking services, company intranets, as well as payment card numbers, etc. email addresses.

To do this, attackers use malware or try to use social engineering to force victims to take certain actions that will help them get the desired result. Attacks targeting ordinary users are relatively simple, but cybercriminals are increasingly improving phishing techniques that require collecting information about victims to suppress their vigilance and force them to play by their own rules.

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How does phishing work?

Phishing that common users deal with usually consists of sending specially crafted emails or SMS messages to potential victims. They contain links to malicious websites where Internet users are required to provide confidential data, which is usually the login and password for an electronic banking website. Thus, citizens themselves allow fraudsters to steal money from their accounts. Getting the victim to do this is the biggest challenge, and cybercriminals are constantly coming up with new ways to carry out their plans. Recently, the most common phishing method is micropayments.

In the unfortunate messages, you can “learn” about a suspended package of services, a blocked auction on a bids website, a difference in the amount of an invoice, a debt owed to the tax office, or from an energy supplier that will backfire on you. Missing money can be transferred through the fast payment site, which includes a link in the message. However, it redirects to a site that is deceptively similar to the popular ones. And the data entered on it goes to the criminals, which allows them to log into the victim's account in the transaction service and transfer funds to their own accounts.

A popular method is also advertising through the website and social media advertisements, with attractive prizes, the ability to make big bucks fast, or even inherit from a late billionaire who was a distant relative of yours. In the latter case, images of famous personalities (of course, without their consent) are often used to convince the authenticity of the information.

However, it is worth remembering that phishing is not only about stealing the personal data of ordinary Internet users. Thus, fraudsters are increasingly trying to convince employees of enterprises to provide them with a login and password for the company's internal network or install the software. It will give them open access to the database of a company or organization and will lead to the theft of various information.