MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM (MIS750)

All about information, technology and systems in the world (Noranita, 2013)

Phishing

PHISHING HOW TO PREVENT

Did you received this types of email before this???. I just received this email this week and this is an examples of phishing email. Please be careful whatever email comes to your inbox especially regarding your bank account. According to the results of Kaspersky Lab’s "The evolution of phishing attacks 2011-2013" survey, the number of Internet users who faced phishing attacks over the last 12 months has grown from 19.9 million to 37.3 million, an increase of 87 %. Facebook, Yahoo, Google and Amazon are among main targets of cyber criminals. The study, which was carried out in June 2013 based on data from the Kaspersky Security Network cloud service, shows that what was once a subset of spam has evolved into a rapidly growing cyber threat in its own right.
Below are some tips how to prevent phishing activities:-
1.Guard against spam.
Be especially cautious of emails that:
* Come from unrecognized senders.
* Ask you to confirm personal or financial information over the Internet and/or make urgent requests for this information.
* Aren’t personalized.
* Try to upset you into acting quickly by threatening you with frightening information.

2. Communicate personal information only via phone or secure web sites.
In fact: When conducting on-line transactions, look for a sign that the site is secure such as a lock icon on the browser’s status bar or a “https:” URL whereby the “s” stands for “secure” rather than a “http:”. Also, beware of phone phishing schemes.
3. Do not divulge personal information over the phone unless you initiate the call.
Be cautious of emails that ask you to call a phone number to update your account information as well.

4. Do not click on links, download files or open attachments in emails from unknown senders
It is best to open attachments only when you are expecting them and know what they contain, even if you know the sender.

5. Never email personal or financial information, even if you are close with the recipient
You never know who may gain access to your email account, or to the person’s account to whom you are emailing.

6. Beware of links in emails that ask for personal information
Even if the email appears to come from an enterprise you do business with. Phishing web sites often copy the entire look of a legitimate web site, making it appear authentic. To be safe, call the legitimate enterprise first to see if they really sent that email to you. After all, businesses should not request personal information to be sent via email.

7. Beware of pop-ups and follow these tips:
* Never enter personal information in a pop-up screen.
* Do not click on links in a pop-up screen.
* Do not copy web addresses into your browser from pop-ups.
* Legitimate enterprises should never ask you to submit personal information in pop-up screens, so don’t do it.

8. Protect your computer with a firewall, spam filters, anti-virus and anti-spyware software
Do some research to ensure you are getting the most up-to-date software, and update them all regularly to ensure that you are blocking from new viruses and spyware.