6 Common Phishing Attacks and How to Protect Against Them

Spear phishing is a more targeted form of phishing that uses personal information about the victim to make the attack seem more legitimate. This type of attack targets specific individuals and organizations and is typically much harder to detect than other types of phishing.

In this scheme, fraudsters pose as a legitimate company in order to steal people’s personal information or login credentials. Threats and a sense of urgency are used in these emails to scare users into doing what the attackers want.

In these scams, fraudsters attempt to harpoon an executive and steal their login information. Whaling attacks are effective because executives frequently fail to participate in security awareness training with their employees. To combat the threats of CEO fraud and W-2 phishing, organizations should require that all company personnel, including executives, participate in ongoing security awareness training. Organizations should also think about incorporating multi-factor authentication (MFA) channels into their financial authorization processes so that no one can authorize payments solely through email.

This type of phishing attack dispenses with sending out an email and goes for placing a phone call instead. As noted by Comparitech, an attacker can perpetrate a vishing campaign by setting up a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) server to mimic various entities in order to steal sensitive data and/or funds.

Vishing isn’t the only type of phishing that digital fraudsters can use their phones for. They can also engage in what is known as smishing. This method employs malicious text messages to dupe users into clicking on a malicious link or disclosing personal information.

As users become more aware of traditional phishing scams, some con artists have abandoned the concept of “baiting” their victims entirely. They are instead resorting to pharming. This phishing technique employs cache poisoning against the domain name system (DNS), a naming system used by the Internet to convert alphabetical website names, such as “www.microsoft.com,” to numerical IP addresses, allowing it to locate and direct visitors to computer services and devices.

Organizations should encourage employees to enter login credentials only on HTTPS-protected sites to avoid pharming attacks. Anti-virus software should be installed on all corporate devices, and virus database updates should be performed on a regular basis. Finally, they should keep up with security updates issued by a reputable Internet Service Provider.

Phishing is a type of cyberattack where hackers send emails to trick people into revealing personal information. The best way to protect yourself against phishing is to be aware of the latest scams and what they look like. You can also use anti-virus software or other security measures on your devices.

Phishing is constantly adapting to new forms and techniques. With this in mind, it is critical that organizations provide ongoing security awareness training to their employees and executives so that they can stay on top of phishing’s evolution.

Phishing attacks are becoming more and more common and with the rise of new technologies, it’s important for everyone to know how to prevent themselves from becoming a victim.