Phishing - Introduction and avoidance

Introduction

Phishing is the computing term used to describe the process of creating fake versions of online services in order to trick users in to entering their details, and so obtaining their personal information and access to their official online accounts.

To do this, criminals often purchase similar domain names to those used by official companies. They would then generally send out a mass email, pretending to be from their organisation that they are targetting - this would usually be asking for users to log into their online account and update their details.

Avoidance

Phishing emails are generally poorly written and lack good grammar, although this sometimes accompanied by quite convincing graphics, including the targetted business's logo.

Phishing websites can be avoided by always carefully viewing links before clicking on them. It can also help to install the McAfee SiteAdvisor - this is designed to notify users of potentially dangerous websites when they are visited. Due to the nature of phishing websites and their operators, protection against spyware will help prevent any other issues.