• A phishing attack is an attempt to gain unauthorized access to your personal information. Information that can be accessed using phishing could include, but is not limited to, user ids, passwords, credit card details, and bank information. Phishing typically uses social engineering to make users click on a certain link or give certain information over the phone that they shouldn't have to. The word phishing was coined in 1996.

• Fast Facts

  1. Typically carried out by e-mail, but can be carried out anywhere
  2. Uses Social Engineering to obtain information
  3. Based off the word Fishing
  4. Many browsers can protect against phishing websites
  5. Some security software also prevents you from going to a phishing website
  6. U.S. is the country most targeted by phishing attacksBlogcritics Magazine: RSA Report Points to an Increase in Cyber Crime (February 22, 2009)
  7. Many experts believe there will be an increase in phishing in countries where the internet is just starting to become availableBlogcritics Magazine: RSA Report Points to an Increase in Cyber Crime (February 22, 2009)
  8. Cyber criminals use economic fear on their phishing victims as well as social engineering tacticsBlogcritics Magazine: RSA Report Points to an Increase in Cyber Crime (February 22, 2009)
  9. Many believe the increased availability of DIY phishing kits that can be procured online are responsible for the 66 % increase in phishing attacks in 2008Blogcritics Magazine: RSA Report Points to an Increase in Cyber Crime (February 22, 2009)
  10. Authorities believe a gang of Romanian phisherman called the Rock Gang are responsible for at least 50% of all phishing attacksBlogcritics Magazine: RSA Report Points to an Increase in Cyber Crime (February 22, 2009)

• History

  In the early 1980s and 1990s, phishing was closely associated with people that distributed illegal copies of software. At this time, phishing was done on the AOL network, but after AOL implemented new features to prevent illegal copies of software, people started using phishing tactics to gain access to legitimate accounts. Phishing later expanded away from AOL and now targets almost every major organization.

• Techniques of Phishing

  There are many ways that someone can use phishing to social engineer someone. For example, someone can manipulate a website address to make it look like you are going to a legitimate website, when in fact you are going to a website hosted by a criminal. When users click on this link they are brought to a website that looks very similar to one that they are used to. They then enter their personal information into the form provided and the criminal then gets their information. Phishing doesn't have to be like this though, it can also take place over the phone or anywhere that a person can mask themselves as someone else.

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