Victims of the attack can be not only inexperienced or inattentive users, but also people who understand perfectly well how criminals work on the Internet. The main feature of phishing is that various methods of psychological influence are used to get what is desired.
In this article, we will look at what phishing is and how to deal with it.
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How does phishing work?
phishing how it works
Phishing, or phishing, is consonant with the word "fishing" because these activities have quite a few similar features. This hacking method requires a lot of time, sometimes forcing you to gain the victim's trust for months to obtain personal gain.
There are several methods by which personal data can be stolen:
Through links in search engines. For example, a user wants to go to a certain site, the domain name of which is “website.com”. He enters the name of the site in the search engine, sees the first link, an advertisement, and clicks on it and starts authorization. And he does not notice that the domain name is not “website.com”, but “website.co”. Similar methods are used for many sites, especially marketplaces, where users can enter their payment information.
Through hacked users. This method is quite common. For example, you are in a chat at your home and one of the users, perhaps even one of your neighbors whom you know well personally, sends an unknown link to the chat. You click on it, thinking that there is important information there, however, on an unknown site you are asked to enter data to log in through one of the social networks. If you do this, the same link will be sent from your account to all the chats in which you are.
Because of your “new acquaintance”. Someone may add you on Facebook, or you may meet someone in a Telegram group. After a month of communication, you may receive a message, for example, asking you to vote for something or someone. A clear example is “vote for your little brother in a song contest”. Trusting this person, you calmly log in, after which your data will be stolen. If they are useful to the criminal, you will not receive any more messages.
Of course, this does not mean that every message will be received with distrust and anxiety. However, it is worth being careful.
What is the purpose of phishing?
phishing target how to protect yourself from hacking
The main goal, as stated earlier, is to steal users' personal data. The purpose of using this data may vary, but in most cases, they include:
Gaining access to your personal information. For example, by hacking your email, attackers can learn about your online activities, what sites you are registered on. In addition, they can log in to other platforms where you used the hacked email.
Gaining access to your financial transactions. If a criminal gains access to your bank card, he will be able to buy anything or withdraw money to other accounts.
Gaining access to a larger network of information. For example, if attackers can gain access to your corporate email, they can use it to obtain more information about the company.
When it comes to practical applications of data, they can vary significantly. Your data can be used for financial fraud, replenishing the base of bots for commenting, sometimes even blackmail.
How to protect yourself from phishing?
Phishing divides your online activity into “before and after”. Therefore, we will consider what to do to avoid becoming a victim of phishing and how to prevent the actions of attackers if they receive your personal data.
How to avoid becoming a victim of phishing:
Check links several times. Attackers can slightly modify them, so before authorizing on any site, you should always check its correctness. For example, when going to Weblium, you should make sure that the link looks like “weblium.com”, and not “webliu.mcom”.
Review site reviews. If your friend has sent you a site asking you to register, you need to check the information about the resource. As a rule, reviews will show that this platform is a phishing site.
Pay attention to the interface. It may often seem that the site looks good, it seems functional and high-quality. However, as a rule, most of the content on the site will be inaccessible, and almost every click will lead to a window with authorization. Quite often, the only option will be to use a Google account, or another service, for example, DIA, and in the registration window you will need to enter data. You can see a real domain in the window, for example, Google. However, if you try to move the registration window, you will understand that this is just a pop-up, part of the intruders' site.
Phishing is constantly adapting, so in some cases it is quite difficult to know that someone is trying to steal your personal data. Sometimes attackers use schemes that are very difficult to detect.
However, if you already understand that your data is at risk, there are a few things you should do as soon as possible.
Block your bank card. If attackers have stolen information about your payment methods, you need to make sure that no transactions will be performed.
Change the password to your personal accounts. It norway phone number library is worth changing the passwords not only to your email (if it was stolen) but also to all accounts associated with it.
Warn your colleagues about the hack. If your work account or corporate email has been hacked, warn your colleagues and management about it. This will give your team time to take additional security measures.
Of course, if the attacker was working only with you, then it will be quite difficult to avoid the consequences of the hack. As a rule, people who are professional phishing will do everything to make you suspect that they have your data.
What is the purpose of phishing?
weblium phishing protection
Weblium is a website builder and user safety is our top priority. We understand the problem of phishing and do everything possible to prevent it. Various websites are most effectively used to steal personal data, so we implement all necessary measures on our part.
Analysis of websites and their content. We constantly analyze websites created on the platform to understand whether they are safe for the audience. This way, we can immediately identify dangerous websites.
Removal of unsafe content. When our specialists detect unsafe content or sites, they are automatically removed. Of course, if an error occurred and the resource was mistakenly removed, our support service will restore the site.
Analysis of messages from users. If you find out that a site created on Weblium is engaged in phishing, report it to our support service. You can contact technical support via the chat on the site, or by email at [email protected] . After receiving the message, the site will be checked and, if criminal activity is confirmed, deleted.
If you notice that a site created on Weblium is engaged in any criminal activity, please let us know. This way you can help protect the personal data of other users.
