Phising

Phishing is the act of using electronic communication in an attempt to fraudulently obtain confidential information from a business or individual by posing as a legitimate entity.

Typically a phishing attack has two components a: a legitimate looking email from a trustworthy entity and a fraudulent web page. Individuals are enticed into revealing personal id and financial info on fraudulent web sites, also know as spoofed web sites. Governments, financial institutions and online services are common targets of brand spoofing. PayPal, MSN, eBay, Yahoo and American online are websites that are frequently spoofed by fishers.

A user may receive an official looking email from an institution requiring the user to verify information for security purposes and may also threaten consequences like account suspension for non compliance. When the user clicks the link in the email, the user is taken to an official looking website requesting sensitive information to be entered. While it appears as an official looking website, it is actually a spoof site and the information is used to wipe bank account etcetera.

In conclusion, technology has many advantages but it is not without its dangers. The anonymity of the internet, combined with other factors such as the speed at which transactions take place and further aided by the level of personal disclosure of information cyber crimes like phishing, are unlikely to be easily resolved. Consumers best defence is educating themselves about phishing techniques and using technology created specifically to protect against phishing.

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A typical phishing attack is made up of two components: an authentic-looking email and a fraudulent Web page.This form of spam frequently uses professional-looking, HTML-based emails that include company logos, colors, graphics, font styles, and other elements to successfully spoof the supposed sender.

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