Phishing

Phishing is a method used to obtain personal and financial information from unsuspecting individuals. While pop up messages on websites and instant messaging programs, like AOL IM, are used in phishing scams, the most common means of acquisition is by misleading emails from a third part

Prevention

• Don’t reply to email or pop-up messages that ask for personal or financial information, and don’t click on links in the message. Don’t cut and paste a link from the message into your Web browser phishers can make links look like they go one place, but that actually send you to a different site.
• If you are concerned about your account, contact the organization using a phone number you know to be genuine, or open a new Internet browser session and type in the company’s correct Web address yourself.
• Use anti-virus software and a firewall, and keep them up to date.
• Don’t email personal or financial information.
• Review credit card and bank account statements as soon as you receive them to check for unauthorized charges.
• Be cautious about opening any attachment or downloading any files from emails you receive, regardless of who sent them.

Analysis

Phishing is a significant crime because it has an extremely large market to target. Online bill pay, Internet shopping, and email are examples of daily occurrences that provide potential trails for stammers to follow.As current or potential future web developers, the knowledge of phishing presence and the capabilities of its evolving scams need to be taken into consideration when creating sensitive websites, as with the heavily bombarded eBay, Paypal, Yahoo, Visa, and Citibank to name a few.

As conclusion, From the first media presence of phishing, as mentioned in the Florida Times-Union newspaper in March 1997, this ever growing problem continues to evolve and match any precautions taken by its opposition. Despite the fact that these scams are getting more believable, it remains important that phishing is reported and stammers find themselves empty handed.

Considering phishing scams have only been present for nine years, with the more recent two and a half years of sophisticated traps, there has been a significant level of danger for Internet users. While organizations like APWG (Anti-Phishing Working Group) are keeping up with phishing scams, knowledge must spread through the general public of these occurrences.

By Seth