Phishing

For those of you who are not familiar with the phishing term, here is a simple definition: phishing consists in personal information theft (through any means) to get access to one’s bank accounts. Of course, the final goal is to steal money. Those who practice phishing are called cyber-criminals. In 2008, there were more than 5 million phishing victims in USA alone.

Cyber-criminals work with different methods and at different levels. They attack individuals, as well as businesses. Below, we will present the most common methods of phishing along with secure measures against them.

Be aware of the following threads and remember: caution is the best secure measure!

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I read an article about the how Justice Department in Canada launched a mock scam as a security exercise to determine how the employees react to a phishing e-mail. Much like a real phishing e-mail, the mock e-mail was made to look like an official government or financial institution e-mail, with a link to a fake website made to look like a real site.

The results showed that people can still be tricked into navigating to a fake website with the intention of obtaining personal information. Unfortunately, phishing is still a popular method for malicious people to get information from others, and use that information for criminal purposes. This is a good reminder of how important it is to be vigilant about what we do while online, regardless if it is viewing a website or checking e-mail.

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