Phishing attacks remain a common form of cybercrime with conventional malicious intent in regards to aims to get victims to divulge information including usernames and passwords, card numbers, and personal details. There may be, for instance, emails, Websites, or other messages with the intent of getting the user to reveal some information. When it comes to phishing, it can be useful to take a little time to get to know what type you may be faced with. Below are the five types of phishing threats and how to identify them.
1. Email Phishing
The most frequent kind of phishing is email phishing, where the attackers send mail with headers that look like the original site body bank, or any other organization or reputable company. Often these emails contain links to bogus sites in which the recipient is asked to input their particulars. Some of the most regularly employed is similar to ‘your account has been hacked’, or ‘prompt action needed’.
Using an Office 365 mail spam filter can help detect and block these emails by analyzing the content for phishing indicators and unusual patterns. An effective spam filter reduces the chances of such emails reaching your inbox, but it’s still important to remain vigilant. Look out for spelling errors, generic greetings, and links that don’t match the claimed source.
2. Spear Phishing
Spear phishing is a particular type of phishing, where the criminals focus on individual employees or particular companies. The attacker then inserts his/her details such as the name of the recipient, the job title of the recipient, or activity updates. Such emails can be sent from a fake or an imitated email address in a bid to confuse the recipient highly.
Spear phishing should also be looked out for, every request for information, whether appearing to be legitimate should be checked out. Check the request sent by the sender through your contact means and confirm it. The general rule of thumb that people should employ when dealing with emails is that any email, whether it appears to come from a friend, a family member, or anyone else, should be approached cautiously especially if the email is directed, or if the email makes any reference to an event.
3. Whaling
Whaling is a form of phishing attack that has been moved further up the food chain to attack individual executives, CEOs, or other Management personnel. Most of these emails seem like they are official and contain information concerning the organization’s legal affairs, problems within the company, or even financial-related issues. Due to such significance, whaling attacks can be extremely accurate and even tend to mimic the typical identity securely.
To minimize the risk of a whaling attack, do not believe email messages that ask for confidential information about the company or approval of financial transactions. Check such alerts by other means if only found to be odd or exigent.
4. Smishing (SMS Phishing)
Smishing occurs through mobile phone messages that are designed to deceive users into providing their details or clicking a link. These text messages may come in the name of well-established organizations such as companies, banks, or service providers along the likes of texts such as “You have won a prize!” or “Account details: Use this to confirm your account details which may be deactivated.”
Smishing can be detected easily by checking the number that is being called and the language in the text sent. Don’t respond to text messages containing links or invites and do not respond to messages asking for individual details. Nowadays, one often receives a message allegedly from a company; therefore, he must not reply to the sender, but go to the company’s website directly or call their phone number.
5. Vishing (Voice Phishing)
Here the attacker calls the victim and poses himself as an organization that looks sincere – it can be a bank, tech support government, etc. They can tell you that there is a vital issue with your account for example an issue with a trade, or even account freezing, and then they go on to request personal information over the phone.
To prevent vishing never provide personal details to callers when receiving unplanned calls. If a stranger tells you that, he/she belongs to some promising organization, just say goodbye and call this organization at its official phone number on the Internet. Watch your back if you are being threatened or hurried to do something by the caller.
Conclusion
Phishing attacks are presented in many variants; all of these have specific plans to deceive users and force them to disclose their details. Become acquainted with the general knowledge of the following five forms: email phishing, spear phishing, whaling smishing, and vishing to shield yourself and the organization you are working for. Having a positive mindset, using an Office 365 mail spam filter, being cautious of any get-rich-scheme, or any email that seems too good to be true, and confirming the origin of the message through other means are some of the best ways of realizing that a phishing attempt is being made.
