Phishing virus

Often phishing messages mimic emails from large companies like PayPal, Amazon, or Microsoft, and also banks or government offices. Under the guise of someone trusted, the attacker will ask the recipient to click a link, download an attachment, or to send money. When the victim opens the message, they find a scary message meant to overcome their better judgement by filling them with fear.

The message may demand that the victim go to a website and take immediate action or risk some sort of consequence. If users take the bait and click the link, they're sent to an imitation of a legitimate website. From here, they're asked to log in with their username and password credentials.

If they are gullible enough to comply, the sign-on information goes to the attacker, who uses it to steal identities, pilfer bank accounts, and sell personal information on the black market.

Unlike other kinds of online threats, phishing does not require particularly sophisticated technical expertise. That is because it attacks the most vulnerable and powerful computer on the planet: the human mind. Phishers are not trying to exploit a technical vulnerability in your device's operation system—they're using social engineering.

From Windows and iPhones, to Macs and Androids, no operating system is completely safe from phishing, no matter how strong its security is. In fact, attackers often resort to phishing because they can't find any technical vulnerabilities.

Why waste time cracking through layers of security when you can trick someone into handing you the key? More often than not, the weakest link in a security system isn't a glitch buried in computer code, it's a human being who doesn't double check where an email came from. Despite their many varieties, the common denominator of all phishing attacks is their use of a fraudulent pretense to acquire valuables.

Some major categories include:. Email phishing is one of the most common types of phishing. It has been widespread since the early days of e-mail. The attacker sends an email purporting to be someone trustworthy and familiar online retailer, bank, social media company, etc.

Next, they scare you with some sort of problem and insist you clear it up immediately by sharing your account information or paying a fine. They usually ask that you pay with a wire transfer or with prepaid cards, so they are impossible to track. Catfishing or catphishing? Either way, it's phishing with a romantic twist. Check out our article Bad romance: catphishing explained.

From the article:. Phishing vs. Spear phishing attacks a specific person or organization, often with content that is tailor made for the victim or victims. It requires pre-attack reconnaissance to uncover names, job titles, email addresses, and the like. All rights reserved. Phishing What Is Phishing? What Is Phishing? For instance, many claim that you have won an iPhone, a lottery, or some other lavish prize.

Just don't click on any suspicious emails. Remember that if it seems to good to be true, it probably is! Sense of Urgency - A favorite tactic amongst cybercriminals is to ask you to act fast because the super deals are only for a limited time. Some of them will even tell you that you have only a few minutes to respond. When you come across these kinds of emails, it's best to just ignore them. Sometimes, they will tell you that your account will be suspended unless you update your personal details immediately.

If you ignore the email, the company won't necessarily know to detect and block that sender in the future. If you open the email or show it to coworkers, you increase the risk for adware, malware, or information theft.

Report phish so the company can investigate it. If you open the email or show it to coworkers, you increase the risk for adware, malware or information theft. All of these things are true. IT has security controls in place, but the company relies on each one of us to identify and handle phish that are not detected.

Phishing campaigns are becoming more sophisticated all the time. It pays to be vigilant when it comes to your work and personal emails.

Phishing is an extremely lucrative criminal business and can be devastating to an organization if successful. Worldwide web fraud detection organizations estimate that over million phishing emails are sent each day. Spear phishing is a type of phishing that targets specific individuals or organizations in a business. The target could be system administrators, developers, executives, finance, HR, or sales professionals, who handle sensitive data or access numerous systems.

Spear phishing emails go after intellectual property and confidential information that could command high prices from interested buyers. The target could be system administrators, developers, executives, finance, HR or sales professionals, who handle sensitive data or access numerous systems.

A person who sends phishing emails typically asks for personal or financial information on a webpage or pop-up window linked from the phishing email. He or she uses that information to purchase things online or gain unauthorized access to data. Phishers may use fake names, but they do not steal an identity to send the emails, nor do they request photos. Phishing emails often use a sense of urgency to make you click on a link or open an attachment without thinking.

Often these emails come from someone you don't know and contain attachments or links that you don't recognize.

Remember: If it's too good to be true, it probably is. If you click on a link in a phishing email or open an attachment, the email sender could gain access to company systems, steal information, or distribute malware into the company network or your personal computer.

Don't give them this kind of power! Avoid clicking on links or opening attachments unless you know the sender and are sure the email is valid. Phishers capitalize on trends and current events. They might ask for contributions to charities, talk about economic uncertainty, or appeal to people's emotions concerning politics or things in the news.

Phishers don't have any interest in the weather as a distraction tool. The email is vague and generic, and it's threatening something about one of your accounts. It talks about an urgent threat and sounds suspicious. The offer is too good to be true. Don't click on the link. Never give out financial or personal information in response to an email that seems questionable.

What should you do as an employee if you suspect a phishing attack? Report it so the organization can investigate. Ignore it. Open the email and see whether it looks legitimate. Show your coworkers to see what they think. What are the most common signs of a phishing scams?

Nice graphics and layout. Contains personal information. Proper spelling and grammar. The technique is sometimes called social engineering.

When consumers opened the email, there was no message, just an attachment. If they opened the attachment, consumers ran the risk of installing ransomware on their computers. In another spear-phishing example, emails might target a company employee. The email may appear to come from the boss, and the message requests access to sensitive company information. Another type of phishing, clone phishing, might be one of the most difficult to detect.

In this type of phishing attack, scammers create a nearly identical version of an email that victims have already received. The body of the email looks the same, too. The attachment or link in the message has been changed. If victims click on those now, it will take them to a fake website or open an infected attachment. Sometimes phishers go after the biggest of targets, the whales. Whaling attacks target chief executive officers, chief operating officers, or other high-ranking executives in a company.

The goal is to trick these powerful people into giving up the most sensitive of corporate data. These attacks are more sophisticated than general phishing attacks and require plenty of research from scammers. They usually rely on fraudulent emails that appear to be from trusted sources within the company or from legitimate outside agencies.

These pop-up ads sometimes use scare tactics. You can report a phishing attempt or crime to the Federal Trade Commission at its Complaint Assistant page. You can also report the attack to the Anti-Phishing Working Group or forward the phishing email at reportphishing apwg. If you receive a phishing text message, forward it to SPAM Though hackers are constantly coming up with new phishing techniques, there is good news.

There are some things that you can do to protect yourself and your organization. All it requires is some common sense. Installing and running trusted security software may provide real-time threat protection, help you create and manage unique passwords, and help protect your personal files and financial information from phishing attacks and other scams. What if you've fallen for an email scam?

Perhaps you sent financial information to a scammer or clicked on a link that installed malware on your computer. As cybercriminals continue to evolve their phishing attacks and other techniques, its best to have advanced security software leading your defense.

While antivirus protection is one of the keys to limiting risk, the right VPN can encrypt the network traffic you send and receive and hide your IP address, providing an additional layer of online privacy.

All rights reserved. Firefox is a trademark of Mozilla Foundation. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc. Alexa and all related logos are trademarks of Amazon. Microsoft and the Window logo are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U. The Android robot is reproduced or modified from work created and shared by Google and used according to terms described in the Creative Commons 3. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Online Scams. Security Center Online Scams What is phishing? How to recognize and avoid phishing scams.