First off, what is phishing?
phishing is the criminally fraudulent process of attempting to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. [quote]
According to the Anti-Phishing Group this type of attack is very much on the rise – it is, as I’ve maintained before (e.g. 1, 2), that we should learn about the hardware and software we use and understand what we need to do to ensure the security of said items.
Let me state upfront – you can’t prevent phishing attacks, but you can prepare yourself by taking certain precautions.
- Ensure you keep your computer OS, software, drivers, etc., up to date.
- Ensure you frequently scan your system (either schedule it or manually run) with a top class security tool such as Malwarebytes or similar.
- Ensure (especially Windows OS users) that you keep your anti-virus up to date; that it is running and that it is still working as well as you hope. Check out what independent reviewers / testers such as AV Comparatives think of your AV.
- Always check the full URL of a financial site to ensure you are where you think you are – better still, type it yourself rather than use links in an eMail.
- Don’t trust any eMail that asks for any personal information, especially financial.
- Always check that the email from your financial institution is actually from them.
- Never give out your personal logon details to anyone – this includes your bank as they should never need that information.
- Take the approach of never trusting any eMail or web link unless you are 100% satisfied that it is genuine or has come from a trustworthy source.
- Equally, never open any attachments (especially from friends) unless you know they are sending it. It never hurts to double check.
- Finally, when logged in, ensure your browser is in secure mode.
In short, apply some common sense and avoid providing anything of a financial nature to a faceless website or eMail.
As I said above, you can’t prevent phishing attacks but by applying the above steps you will go a long way towards avoiding falling for their traps.
Also remember that only a few ever fall prey to these attacks and I’m hoping the above advice will reduce those numbers even further.
Have I missed any advice in my bullet points?
Do you take active steps to avoid scams?
Or are you a blind truster?
