The Phishing Pandemic: Protecting Yourself in a Digital World

Internet has made life rather easy for people, as we can have all the information we need, in the blink of an eye, at our fingertips. We can say that internet has emerged victorious in the game of providing information. But, beware your personal financial information can also be stolen on the internet by cyber thieves. This stealing of personal financial info is called ‘phishing’ but what they are really doing is fishing for your personal financial information.

They want the sensitive information such as passwords, account numbers, social security numbers and other confidential info about the finances, so that they can empty your bank accounts or do unauthorized transactions on your credit cards. And the worst-case scenario will be falling victim to an identity theft. When this phishing scam gets successful, they can apply for loans on your name, get credit cards.

When there is no information to you about any loan that these phishers have taken, your CIBIL can go for an absolute toss and also your personal reputation can get tarnished. But this has major chances of taking place, when you are unaware of the fact that how phishing works. Being aware of the working of this financial scam, you can prevent yourself from falling prey, and even stop this crime.

Understanding the Working of Phishing

The entire scam of phishing starts from, you receiving an e-mail which you think is coming from a reputable institution or even a government agency. The email will perhaps warn you of a problem requiring immediate attention. It will then encourage you to click a button to go to the website of the institution.

When you are caught in a phishing scam, there will be a redirection to a phony website that looks exactly like the real one. Every now and then, it might be the company's actual website.

In these cases, a pop-up window will appear for the purpose of taking your monetary info. You also might be persuaded to update account info or to provide Social Security number, account number, password. If you fall in the trap of the bogus mail, then you might end up being a victim of a phishing scam, and losing a lot of your money.

What are the Different Kinds of Phishing?

Spear Phishing

A Spear Phishing attack is made to trick a person. The attackers either are aware of some info about the target, or they aim to gather that info to advance their objectives. Once personal details are attained, the phishing attempt is tailor-made to include those for appearing more legitimate. These attacks are more successful because of being more believable.

Whaling

It is even more targeted as a phishing attack. The alteration is that Whaling is concerned about celebrities, and high-net-worth people. The account authorizations of these high-value targets provide a gateway to more info and money. 

Smishing

It is done through an SMS message. This is more visible because of the notification and also for the fact that more people can read a text message. With the increasing acceptance of SMS messaging between businesses and consumers, Smishing is getting increasingly prevalent in the current scenario.

Vishing

This attack carried out through a phone call. The attackers make a call to the victim, typically with a pre-recorded message. Recently in a Twitter breach, a group of hackers pretending to be “IT Staff” convinced Twitter employees to give credentials through telephonic conversations. 

What is the Cost of Phishing Attacks for Companies?

As we have told at the start of this piece that the main implication of the phishing attacks is the monetary loss, whether it is for an organization or for an individual identity. Statistics will help you to understand the greave implications of phishing attacks. So let us look at some of the statistics.

As per the FBI, hackers favor phishing e-mails as their most prevalent attack method to deliver ransomware to institutions and also the people. IBM rated phishing as the second-most prevalent cause of a data breach in 2022, and the utmost expensive, costing victims averagely USD 4.91 million.

What Should be Done to Guard Against Phishing?

Avoid Sharing Personal Info in Response to an Unsocialised Request

Emails created by phishers might look precisely just as the real thing. They might even have a fake padlock icon that normally is used to denote a safe site. If you did not initiate the communication, no info should be provided. The same implies for phone calls as well, no personal financial info should be shared with any random user.

 Check the legitimacy of the Institution by Yourself

Phone numbers and websites on the monthly statements you obtain from a monetary institution, or you can have a look at the company on the Internet. The key is that you should be the one to initiate with the contact, with the use of info that you have verified yourself.

Never Provide Passwords over Phone or an E-mail

A monetary organization would never ask you to verify account info online. Thieves armed with this info and the account number can help themselves to the savings.

Review Account Statements on Regular Basis to ensure All charges are Correct

 If the account statement arrives late, place a call to the financial institution to find out why. If your financial organization offers electronic account access, regularly review activity online for catching suspicious action.

Exploring the General Data Protection Regulations

The GDPR introduces novel rules for organizations that provide goods and services to people in the EU, or that gather and analyze data for EU residents no matter where you are located.

The GDPR provides rights to people for managing personal data collected by an organization. These rights can be exercised with the help of a Data Subject Request. The organization is vital to provide apt information with regards to DSRs and data breaches, and achieve Data Protection Impact Assessments.

 Tech and Innovations in Anti-Phishing Strategies

AI and ML based anti-phishing solutions are an important innovation, providing unmatched detection and response competences. These technologies can analyze a lot of data instantaneously, identifying behaviors and patterns revealing of phishing attempts. Plugins provide real-time protection against phishing, cautioning users of possibly malevolent websites and blocking access to identified phishing sites.

Startups are focusing on making use of the social engineering for combating the human hacking ravaging industries at a global level.

Moreover, biometric authentication methods, for example facial recognition, and fingerprint scanning are implemented for stopping phishing attacks. These approaches add an extra security layer by guaranteeing that only sanctioned users can access sensitive info. The incorporation of AI and biometrics will transform the phishing defense.

Current and Projected Market Value

If we talk about the current value of the phishing protection industry, it was USD 2,307.5 million in 2023, and the projection value will be USD 5,609.3 million by the end of this decade. It will be for the reason that there is no stopping the phishing attacks and tech advancements are taking place, and an increase in remote working and a growth in the acceptance of cloud-based communication, skyrocketing growth in the cases of phishing threats, needing phishing protection solutions.

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Which are the Key Players of the Industry?

If there is an increasing count of phishing attacks all over the world, and the demand for phishing protection solutions is also rising, there ought to be some key players providing these solutions. Have a look at some of the some of the key players in the industry that are pioneers, when it comes to phishing protection solutions, Microsoft , Proofpoint inc., Mimecast Services Ltd , FireEye, Inc. , @Cisco Systems Inc., Symantec Corporation, Intel Corporation, Phishlabs Inc. etc.

Coming to a Conclusion

Every coin has two sides and so has the growing popularity of internet. With the growing count of internet users all over the world, the risk of the cyberattacks such as phishing has also grown considerably. In this blog, we have tried to cover all the major aspects of phishing protection, for you to have a look.