Phishing

Phishing is a form of cybercrime where attackers impersonate a legitimate organization or person to deceive targets into revealing sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, credit card numbers, or other types of personal financial details.

Phishing can occur in various ways, with the most common being through email. In a typical phishing scenario, the attacker sends an email that appears to come from a well-known company, like a bank, an online payment service, or a social networking site. The email may urge the recipient to take immediate action, such as clicking a link to “verify your account” or “update your password.”

Clicking the link will usually lead to a fraudulent website designed to look like the legitimate one, where the victim enters their login credentials or personal information, thereby unknowingly handing them over to the attackers.

Apart from email, phishing can also occur via phone calls (vishing), text messages (smishing), or even through social media. Advanced forms of phishing include spear phishing, where the phishing attempt is specifically targeted towards a specific individual or organization, and whaling, which targets high-profile individuals.

To protect against phishing, it’s important to be skeptical of any communication that asks for sensitive information, especially if it requires urgent action. Also, keep an eye out for signs of fraud, such as misspelled words, poor grammar, or email addresses that don’t match the name of the company they’re purportedly from. Most importantly, never click on suspicious links. Instead, manually type the URL into your web browser, or use a bookmark you’ve previously created.