The document discusses phishing, which refers to attempts by criminals to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details by disguising themselves as a trustworthy entity through fraudulent emails or websites. It provides details on how phishing works, what information phishers typically ask for, signs of phishing messages to watch out for, and steps individuals can take to protect themselves, including using antivirus software, firewalls, and caution when receiving suspicious emails or entering information on websites.
2. 1.Introduction
2.What is Phishing
3.What might be the Phisher ask for
4.How does it Work
5.The simplified flow of information in a phishing attack
6. What should I be aware of when receiving a suspicious email?
7.What do I do if I get a phishing message?
8.What do I do if I am unsure about a fraudulent email message?
9.Why phishing is still popular
10.How to protect yourself from phishing
11. References
3. Phishing:
Pronounced "fishing
The word has its Origin from two words Password
Harvesting or fishing for Passwords
Phishing is an online form of pretexting, a kind of
deception in which an attacker pretends to be someone
else in order to obtain sensitive information from the
victim
Also known as "brand spoofing
Phishers are phishing artists.
The purpose of a phishing message is to acquire
sensitive information about a user.
4. What is phishing
Phishing refers to a person
or a group of cyber-
criminals who create an
imitation or copy of an
existing legitimate web page
to trick users into providing
sensitive personal
information. Responding to
phishing emails put your
accounts at risk.
5. What might the phisher ask
for?
Your password
Account number, card number, Pin, access code
Personality identifiable information like your date of birth,
Social Security number or address
Confidential information like student records, financial records
or technical information
Phishers typically present a plausible scenario and often take
advantage of the recipients fear, greed. They also often present a
sense of urgency. Example include message that:
Tell you that your account was misused by you and will be
disabled
Tell you your account was compromised and will be disabled
6. How does phishing Phishing attacks are most commonly
work transmitted via email, but they are
also transmitted via:
Instant Messaging
Social media website such as fb,
MySpace and Twitter
The communicational may:
Ask you to reply with specific
information
Ask you to visit a web page, then ask
you to share specific information
Ask you to call a phone number,
which will ask you to share specific
information
7. The Imbedded Web Address
The next way phishing works is by redirecting the victim
to a seemingly legitimate website from an email. The email
may look like
it has been sent from a bank, the Internal
Revenue Service or an online financial service
such as PayPal, escrow or an online financial
rewards system. The website that the victim is redirected
to appears in every way to be real. Upon entering
usernames, passwords or any other vital information, it is
not unlikely that the website appears to crash. This is
because the phisher has what he needs and doesnt want
the victim to find out about the phony website.
8. The simplified flow of information in a phishing
attack is:
1. A deceptive message is sent from the phisher to the user.
2. A user provides confidential information to a phishing
server (normally after some interaction with the server).
3. The phisher obtain the confidential information from the
server.
4. The confidential information is used to impersonate the
user.
5. The phisher obtain illicit monetary gain.
The discussion of technology countermeasures will center
on ways to disrupt steps 1,2 and 4, as well as related
technologies outside the information flow proper.
12. Look for the following clues:
misspelled words, unprofessional tone, bad
grammar, or other problems with the content.
Other things to look for:
they are asking you to verify your confidential
information, will hold you liable if you don't
respond, telling you that the account will be closed if
you don't respond, etc. All these are signs of a phishing
message.
14. Report and forward the original email to the Information Security
Office at security@utep.edu.Do not reply to the sender of the
email.
What do I do if I am unsure about a fraudulent email
message?
Following these steps to minimize your chances of becoming a
victim of fraud:
1.Do not click on any links listed within the email message.
2.Do not open any attachments included in the email.
3.Forward the email message to The Information Security Office.
4.Review your credit card and bank statements, and your bills, for
unauthorized charges or withdrawals.
5.Never enter personal information using a pop-up
screen. Legitimate companies will provide secure web forms for
you to fill out.
15. Phishing had been widely used at least half a decade ago but it still remains as one
of the popular methods to scam internet users .Many of us might still be wondering
why there are so many victims out there even though we had been taught from time
to stay aware of a phishing scam. There are five reasons here why phishing is still a
popular trick and below are the reasons.
#1- it tricks the victim with fear:
one of the most common method is to trick the victim by sending
them an email and tell them that their internet banking account is
being compromised and need to click on a link to resolve the issue.
Once the user followed the link, the user will be redirected to some
forged website that looks similar to the banking website which
requires the user to input his/her username and password. Once that
form is sent, all the data will be transmitted to the attacker controlled
server.
16. #2-it tricks the victim with special interest:
Some scammers use the scenario such as winning lottery or viewing
adult material to create a temptation for the victim to click on a link
that redirects to the phishing site.
#3-it is not a rocket science technology:
Phishing attacks involves creating a forged website and it might be
difficult to certain people. However if it is compare to hacking a
banking server, creating website is not that complicated. Therefore
many novice or intermediate scammer will choose to use the
phishing method over any other method in their hacking project.
#4-it can be launched via many types of communication channel:
phishing can happen not only by simply building a forged website
and anticipate for the victim to come to you. It can also involve
sending emails to lure them to the forged website.
17. Besides that, a phishing scam uses as well the manipulation of a
URL and post it as a comment or forum to trick them to the
forged website. Apart from using the computer knowledge to lure the
victim, phishing can also be done via phone calls. The conclusion is
this type of scam can be done via multiple channels and multiple
techniques.
#5-Compromising one account is not the end.
After stealing ones credentials is not the end, but it can be the
beginning. Why is it so? Internet users nowadays have many
online accounts for instance Facebook , Twitter, and LinkedIn.
In common, most users will use the same username and
password for each of the account so that remembering them is
not an issue. Hence this can lead to the users credentials that
had been stolen can be used as well for other accounts by the
scammers.
18. How to Protect Yourself from Phishing
The following 10 steps will help protect yourself. Whilst
we have researched and made recommendations of
software that will assist you, Fraud Watch International
makes no warranties or guarantees about the products.
1. Never Click on Hyperlinks within emails
Why?
Hyperlinks within emails are often cloaked, or hidden.
The text you see as a hyperlink may not be where the
hyperlink takes you.
Recommendation:
If you are unsure of the source of the email, you should
not click on hyperlinks within emails that are apparently
from a legitimate company for personally sensitive
19. information Instead, directly type in the URL in the Internet
browser address bar, or call the company on a contact number
previously verified or known to be genuine.
2. Use Anti-SPAM Filter Software
Why?
Some studies have shown around 85% of all email sent is SPAM,
with a majority fraudulent. This can be costly and time
consuming to end users who receive them. Effective SPAM
filters can reduce the number of fraudulent emails consumers
are exposed to.
3. Use Anti-Virus Software
Why?
To protect against Trojan and worm attacks, anti-virus software
can detect and delete virus files before they can attack a
computer.
20. It is important to keep all anti-virus software up to date
with vendor updates. These virus programs can search
your computer and pass this information to fraudsters.
4. Use a Personal Firewall
Why?
Firewall's can monitor both incoming and outgoing
Internet traffic from a computer. This can protect the
computer from being hacked into, and a virus being
planted, and can also block unauthorized programs from
accessing the Internet, such as Trojans, worms and
spyware.
21. 5. Keep Software Updated (Operating Systems & Browsers)
Why?
Fraudsters and malicious computer hackers are continually finding
vulnerabilities in software operating systems and Internet Browsers.
Software vendors are constantly updating their software to fix these
vulnerabilities and protect consumers.
Recommendation:
Always ensure operating and browser software is kept up to date using
legitimate upgrades and patches issued by the software vendor. Visit
your operating system vendors website for update information, and
subscribe to any automatic updating service.
6. Always look for "https" and a padlock on a site that requests
personal information
Why?
Information entered on an Internet Web Site can be intercepted
by a third party. Web Sites that are secure protect against this
activity
22. Recommendation:
When submitting sensitive financial and personal information on the
Internet, look for the locked padlock on the Internet browser's status bar
or the https:// at the start of the URL in the address bar. Although there
is no guarantee of the site's legitimacy or security if they are present, the
absence of these indicates that the web site is definitely not secure.
7. Keep your Computer clean from Spyware
Why?
Spyware & Adware are files that can be installed on your computer,
even if you don't want them, without you knowing they are there!
They allow companies to monitor your Internet browsing patterns,
see what you purchase and even allow companies to inundate you
with those annoying "pop up" ads!
If you've downloaded some music, files or documents and suddenly
started getting annoying ads popping up on your screen, you could
definitely be infected with Spy Ware and/or Ad Ware!
23. 8. Educate Yourself on Fraudulent Activity on the Internet
Why?
Internet Fraud methods are evolving at a rapid rate.
Consumers need to be aware they are vulnerable as
fraudsters are persuasive and convincing; many victims
thought they were too smart to be scammed.
Consumers should educate themselves on Internet
Fraud, the trends and continual changes in fraudulent
methods used. Fraud Watch International offers
consumer education as a free service to the Internet
community.
24. 9. Check Your Credit Report Immediately, for Free!
Why?
If you have responded to a fraudulent email, you
may be at risk of identity theft. A virus could have been
implanted within the email, which may find and pass on
sensitive personal information about you to fraudsters, or
if you have provided fraudsters with any personal
information, you may be at risk of Identity Theft. You
should check your credit report, and subscribe to a credit
report monitoring service, to be alerted if your personal
information is used fraudulently.
25. 10. Seek Advice - If you are unsure - ask us!
Why?
If unsure as to the legitimacy of an email, consumers should seek
advice from the legitimate corporation using verified contact
details. For other potentially fraudulent emails, consumers can
seek advice from Fraud Watch International by forwarding the
email with their questions to us. This is a free service to assist in
the prevention of Internet Fraud.
Recommendation:
You can seek advice from Fraud Watch International by
forwarding the email with your questions to
scams@fraudwatchinternational.com .