It is time to update the phishing protection article that we published some time ago (see Phishing explained) with the recent news that thousands of Hotmail users (and apparently Gmail users as well) fell pray to yet another phishing scam. What is phishing? Phishing, which stands for password fishing, is a popular technique to get collect data from users without their knowledge. This data is usually sensitive in nature, like credit card information or usernames and passwords. The attackers need to get a user on a specifically prepared website first which often is looks exactly like the real website the user wants to visit.
Think of this example: A user receives an email from PayPal or his bank which states that the account was comprised and that action needs to be taken right now. A link is provided and most users will click on that link to get to the website fast. The website looks like the real PayPal or bank website which adds to the trust the user has in the process. The website asks for authorization and most users will enter their data without hesitation. The data that is entered will be collected by the attackers and used in criminal activity.
What is phishing:
- Phishing always requires a user to visit a specifically prepared website (most of the time through a link that is added in emails or messaging)
- The fake website looks a lot like the real website (there are ways to detect fake websites)
- The goal of the attackers is to get the user to enter the data that they are after into a web form.
Phishing protection:
The most powerful weapon against phishing is common sense and the following rules that every user should oblige to.
- If you are not a customer of the site delete the email immediatly. Don´t click on the link or reply.
- If you are a customer and you are not sure if the email is legit do one of the following:
- Contact the institute by phone or contact at the official website ( do not use the email link of course) and ask if the mail is official.
- Instead of using the link provided open the website by typing in the official link there. The site should have news about the email on their starting page. (most of the time). If not, use 2a to verify the email.
Thankfully though there are quite a few tools out there to aid and protect the user against phishing attacks.
- Most web browsers these days come with phishing protection enabled. The lists that they use are usually updated several times a day. It has to be noted though that they only detect phishing websites that are already in the list.
- Several email clients, like Mozilla Thunderbird, but also online email services, like Gmail or Yahoo Mail, make use of phishing protection as well.
- Internet security programs do come with phishing protection as well.
- Password managers can be an excellent aid. If you have saved the login for a website in the password manager you usually can login automatically (Last Pass for example supports that option). The password manager will only work on the real website and not the phishing website.
The most powerful protection again is the user’s common sense. Here are a few pointers on how to detect if a website is real or a phishing site:
- Check the url in the address bar. Is it pointing to the right website? Make sure you look close for chars that look similar, e.g. o and 0.
- Is it a https website? Is the certificate valid?
- Does the website look different? Open another web browser tab to enter the url manually just to be on the same side (if you have opened an external link)
Firefox users can check if the phishing protection of their web browser is working. Do you have additional phishing protection tips?
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6 Responses to “Phishing Protection Tips”
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[...] Here are a couple more good articles on Phishing [...]
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[...] card information over email. Unless you are 100% sure that the email is legitimate, you should just ignore it. But if you can’t help but think the email might be legit, you should never trust the links [...]
“The most powerful protection is the user’s common sense”
Until someone invents a common-sense add-on for the human brain, phishing will flourish.
Well regarding the password management tools, I am using Sticky Password. It has all I need – password generator, secure database, only one password to rembemer.
http://www.stickypassword.com
Mitto (http://mitto.com) is a great password manager. They write an article about how using their service helps you to avoid phishing schemes: http://mitto.com/blog/2009/2/3/how-mitto-protects-users-against-phishing-and-identity-theft.html
This may sound crazy, but write your passwords down! Yep. Write them down. http://www.f-secure.com/en_US/security/security-center/security-stories/cyberawareness.html