Phishing Attack...
What is phishing?
Phishing is a kind of cyberattack in which people are tricked into giving private information, downloading malicious software, or otherwise exposing themselves to crimes by means of phony emails, texts, phone calls, or websites.
Another type of social engineering is phishing attacks. Social engineering assaults, in contrast to conventional cyberattacks that target networks and resources directly, use pressure tactics, phony stories, and human error to trick victims into inadvertently hurting themselves or their organizations.
A hacker poses as a trusted individual, such as a coworker, supervisor, authority figure, or representative of a well-known company, in a conventional phishing scam. The hacker sends a message telling the victim to click on a link, open an attachment, pay an invoice, or do something else.
The user follows the directions and immediately falls into the scammer's trap since they believe the message's purported source. That "invoice" could take you straight to the account of a hacker. The user's device may get infected with ransomware as a result of that attachment. The user may be directed to a website that steals login passwords, bank account numbers, credit card numbers, and other personal information by clicking on that link.
Why phishing is a major Cyber Threat?
Phishing is a common and very successful tactic used by cybercriminals. Phishing is the most prevalent data breach vector, making almost 15% of all breaches, according to IBM's Cost of a Data Breach report. Phishing-related breaches cost businesses an average of USD 4.88 million. Because it preys on human weaknesses rather than technological ones, phishing poses a serious threat. Attackers don't have to outsmart cybersecurity tools or directly compromise systems. They can deceive those with permission to access their target—whether it is money, private data, or something else—into carrying out their nefarious activities. Phishers might be sophisticated criminal gangs or lone con artists. Phishing can be used for a variety of nefarious purposes, such as espionage, account takeovers, extortion, identity theft, credit card fraud, and financial crime.
Targets of phishing can be anyone from large enterprises and government organizations to regular citizens. Russian hackers stole thousands of emails from Hillary Clinton's 2016 US presidential campaign using a phony password-reset email in one of the most well-known phishing attempts.One Standard network monitoring technologies and approaches are not always able to detect phishing schemes in process because they manipulate people. Even the Clinton campaign's IT support desk believed the phony password-reset emails were real throughout the hack. Organizations must utilize both sophisticated threat detection systems and extensive employee training to prevent phishing and make sure that users are able to recognize and securely react to scam efforts.
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Types of phishing attacks
The term "phishing" refers to the fact that, similar to how fishermen use bait to hook real fish, scammers employ alluring "lures" to deceive their victims. Phishing lures are fake messages that seem real and arouse powerful feelings like curiosity, fear, and greed. What and who phishing scammers target determines the types of lures they employ. The following are some typical instances of phishing attacks:
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Phishing emails sent in bulk Scammers send spam emails to as many people as they can in the hopes that some of the targets would fall for the attack. This is known as bulk email phishing. Scammers frequently craft emails that seem to be from big, reputable companies, such banks, internet merchants, or developers of well-known applications. Scammers improve the likelihood that their targets are consumers of well-known brands by posing as those brands. A target is more likely to open a phishing email that looks to be from a brand they frequently contact with. Email scammers craft subject lines that evoke strong feelings or a sense of urgency. Astute con artists employ topics like "Your invoice is attached" or "Problem with your order" that the phony sender might actually address. The email's body instructs the recipient to do something that seems sensible at first, but ends up revealing private information or downloading malicious software. A phishing link might say, for instance, "Click here to update your profile." The malicious link directs the victim to a phony website where their login details are stolen.
Spear phishing
Spear phishing is a type of phishing assault that targets a particular person. The target is typically someone who has particular power or privileged access to sensitive information that the fraudster can take advantage of, like a finance manager who has the ability to transfer funds between company accounts. In order to pretend to be someone the target trusts, like a friend, coworker, boss, vendor, or financial institution, a spear phisher researches their target to obtain the information they need. Professional networking sites and social media, where users frequently overshare, publicly thank colleagues, and recommend suppliers, are excellent places to find information for spear phishing research.
Spear phishers utilize their research to design messages that contain specific personal information that gives the target the impression that the message is very legitimate. "I know you're leaving tonight for vacation, but can you please pay this invoice before the close of business today?" is an example of an email sent by a spear phisher posing as the target's supervisor.
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Compromise of business emails (BEC)
BEC is a type of spear phishing assault that aims to steal money or important data from a company or other entity, such as financial information, trade secrets, or customer information.
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There are various types of BEC assaults. Among the two most prevalent are: CEO fraud: The con artist poses as a C-level executive, frequently via gaining access to the executive's email address. A lower-level employee receives a communication from the scammer telling them to send data to an unauthorized party, buy something from a bogus vendor, or transfer money to a false account.
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Email account compromise (EAC): The con artist gains access to a lower-level employee's email account, such as a manager's account in sales, finance, or R&D. Using the account, the scammer requests access to private information, instructs other staff members to make fraudulent payments, or sends phony invoices to suppliers.
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Scammers frequently steal millions of dollars at a time in BEC assaults, which can be among the most expensive cyberattacks. In one prominent instance, a gang of con artists pretended to be a genuine software seller and stole almost $100 million from Google and Facebook.3.
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Other phishing techniques
Smishing Fake text messages are used in SMS phishing, also known as smishing, to deceive targets. Typically, scammers send an SMS offering a "free gift" or requesting that the victim update their credit card details while posing as their telecom provider. Smishers sometimes impersonate shipping companies, such as the US Postal Service. They inform victims via SMS that they need to pay a charge in order to get the product they ordered.
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Vishing Phishing by phone call is known as voice phishing, or vishing. According to the APWG, shing incidences have skyrocketed in recent years, rising by 260% between 2022 and 2023.5. The availability of voice over IP (VoIP) technology, which scammers may use to make millions of automated vishing calls every day, is partially to blame for the growth in vishing. Caller ID spoofing is a common tactic used by scammers to make their calls seem to originate from reputable companies or local phone lines. Receivers of vishing calls are usually alarmed by threats of credit card processing issues, past-due payments, or legal issues. In order to "resolve" their problems, recipients ultimately give the fraudsters money or sensitive data.
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Phishing on social media Social media phishing is the practice of deceiving individuals by using social media platforms. The built-in messaging features of the platforms, such as Facebook Messenger, LinkedIn InMail, and X (previously Twitter) direct messages, are used by scammers in the same manner as email and text messaging. Scammers frequently pretend to be users who require assistance from the target in order to gain access to their account or win a prize. By using this trick, they are able to obtain the target's login information and take control of their platform account. Because it's all too usual for victims to use the same passwords for many accounts, these attacks can be very expensive.
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