{"id":11784,"date":"2022-01-14T13:27:11","date_gmt":"2022-01-14T13:27:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4sightgroup.flywheelsites.com\/blog\/what-are-phishing-attacks-a-how-to-guide-on-phishing-protection-with-examples\/"},"modified":"2022-06-20T07:50:17","modified_gmt":"2022-06-20T07:50:17","slug":"what-are-phishing-attacks-a-how-to-guide-on-phishing-protection-with-examples","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/4sight.group\/en-cy\/blog\/what-are-phishing-attacks-a-how-to-guide-on-phishing-protection-with-examples\/","title":{"rendered":"What are Phishing Attacks? A How-To Guide on Phishing Protection with Examples"},"content":{"rendered":"

Keeping our credentials and bank details safe is cyber security 101, we hear so many experts barking on about how important it is to keep our details private and secure<\/strong>. But what if you were fooled into believing a reputable organisation\u2019s email, or call to action? What if you were a victim of phishing<\/strong>?<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re trying to avoid a phishing attack, or have recently been subject to a malicious attack on your online data, perhaps by means of text message, much like the COVID-19 Certificate scam that recently hit Malta, or perhaps a seemingly verified email that turned out to be totally dodgy, read this 4Sight blog to learn more how to prevent<\/strong> this from happening again.<\/p>\n

What is a Phishing Attack?<\/h2>\n

Phishing is a means by which hackers gain personal data for malicious purposes. This social engineering attack steals login credentials, credit card numbers and all the other shiny bits that might be of some sort of value for further fraudulent activity online.<\/p>\n

But the way phishing attacks take place aren\u2019t in the form of rather obvious pop ups that promise to make your life better with their get rich quick or lose weight fast scams! Rather, they take on the appearance of a reputable entity<\/strong>, a trusted name that tricks its victims into sharing details. This can be done via email, instant message, text message or other creative ways, tricking you into sharing valuable information or clicking on a malicious link.<\/p>\n

When this takes place, malware takes over your device<\/strong>, using ransomware attacks to reveal sensitive data for purchase of illegal products, use on dark web websites, identity theft and so on. Phishing experts will use your images, details and information to trick others into going through with the same dupes, as they masquerade as company officials and such like.<\/p>\n

On a personal level, this could be detrimental – leaving all victims with a negative sum in their bank account, having to endure quite a steep uphill climb back to stability and security. But when phishers target companies, such as corporate or governmental organisations in larger attacks referred to as advanced persistent threats, they find a way to infiltrate the organisation. They bypass security perimeters, distribute malware and gain access to secured data.<\/p>\n

As a result, this sort of loss can result in a deduction of huge amounts of money<\/strong>, as well as the company, for example bank, university or public service organisation\u2019s reputation and consumer trust. Some phishing attacks also reveal certain disclosed information to the public, in turn destroying a company and its status.<\/p>\n

Examples of Phishing Attacks<\/h2>\n

Urgency, fear and embarrassment are often motives for phishing attacks to take place.<\/p>\n

Email phishing attacks<\/h3>\n

A phishing attack can come directly from your employer or educator, telling you that your email, profile or access password needs renewal in the next 24hrs. This sort of information will generally be followed by a direct link<\/strong> that will seemingly save you time and sort out your issues immediately.<\/p>\n

But one the contrary, what this link is set to do is actually skim your device for all the beneficial information it can find – stealing your data<\/strong> in the process. They will do this by reading your old password from the false link, and using it to access the original \u201cRenew Password Page\u201d that you are trying to update.<\/p>\n

Alternatively, the hijacker will send you to the original, authentic page and run a malicious script, taking over the user\u2019s session cookie – this is a reflected XSS attack that will allow the hacker into the organisation\u2019s network.<\/p>\n

What to look out for:<\/p>\n