How to Secure Yourself from Phishing Attacks

How to Secure Yourself from Phishing Attacks

Hello World!

Phishing attacks are a form of social engineering and are one of the most critical threats to defend against.

These attacks can be hyper-targeted or sent to as many victims as possible. They typically begin with a malicious message that appears to be legitimate.

A phishing attack often starts with a message from a reputable company or person. The goal is to steal data, credentials, and personal information. These attacks exploit and breach security policies after receiving a response from the user.

One significant issue is that employees who do not understand phishing attacks may face job loss due to falling victim to such scams.

While attackers' goals can vary, the aim is to steal personal information or credentials. Phishing attacks are facilitated by creating a sense of urgency in the message, which may threaten account suspension, financial loss, or job loss. Users tricked by such messages often do not take the time to verify if the demands are reasonable or if the source is legitimate.

Phishing tactics continually evolve to bypass security filters and human detection. Organizations must consistently train staff to recognize the latest phishing strategies. It only takes one person falling for a phishing scam to trigger a severe data breach. Therefore, mitigating phishing attacks is crucial, though challenging, as it requires robust human defenses.

Cybercriminals also use phishing attacks to gain direct access to email, social media, and other accounts, or to obtain permissions to modify and compromise connected systems, such as point-of-sale terminals and order processing systems. Many of the largest data breaches start with an innocuous phishing email, where cybercriminals gain a small foothold to build upon.

How to Identify Phishing

Phishing attempts often create a sense of urgency and include links and attachments like PDFs, Word documents, or Excel files that appear legitimate. For example, messages may come from platforms like Outlook or Gmail.

Users often panic in these situations, and phishing emails are frequently sent in bulk without personalizing the message. These emails usually do not address the recipient by name.

Here are some sample phishing messages:

Sample 1

sql

Dear User,

Your account has been restricted. Please check the attached document, or legal action may be taken against you.

Regards,
XYZ

XYZ.bitly.com

Sample 2

css
A package has arrived at the India Post warehouse, but it cannot be delivered because the address is incomplete.

[Link]

Sample 3

kotlin

A package has arrived at the Indian Airport. Drugs were found inside, and this cannot be ignored. Click the link below for more information.

[Link]

Attackers exploit urgent situations to insert malware into private, public, or government networks. Additionally, phishing attacks may also start with phone calls.

Over the past five years, phishing attacks have increasingly included phone calls, and they still often lack any personalized information.

Sl. No.	State	No of Complaint Reported	Amount Reported (Rs in Lacs)	No of Complaints (Put on Hold)	Lien Amount  (Rs in Lacs)
1	Andaman & Nicobar	526	311.97	161	26.46
2	Andhra Pradesh	33507	37419.77	9580	4664.14
3	Arunachal Pradesh	470	765.79	127	34.39
4	Assam	7621	3441.8	2163	451.61
5	Bihar	42029	24327.79	11533	2779.41
6	Chandigarh	3601	2258.61	1058	296.67
7	Chhattisgarh	18147	8777.15	5056	898.41
8	Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu	412	326.21	105	40.88
9	Delhi	58748	39157.86	13674	3425.03
10	Goa	1788	2318.25	450	153.22
11	Gujarat	121701	65053.35	49220	15690.9
12	Haryana	76736	41924.75	21178	4653.4
13	Himachal Pradesh	5268	4115.25	1502	370.78
14	Jammu & Kashmir	1046	786.56	253	62.55
15	Jharkhand	10040	6788.98	2822	556.38
16	Karnataka	64301	66210.02	18989	7315.52
17	Kerala	23757	20179.86	8559	3647.83
18	Ladakh	162	190.29	41	10.03
19	Lakshadweep	29	19.58	6	0.51
20	Madhya Pradesh	37435	19625.03	9336	1462.33
21	Maharashtra	125153	99069.22	32050	10308.47
22	Manipur	339	333.03	108	66.94
23	Meghalaya	654	424.2	252	46.71
24	Mizoram	239	484.12	75	35.44
25	Nagaland	224	148.94	73	18.09
26	Odisha	16869	7967.11	5187	1049.34
27	Puducherry	1953	2020.34	568	143.38
28	Punjab	19252	12178.42	4923	1332.66
29	Rajasthan	77769	35392.09	20899	3934.82
30	Sikkim	292	197.92	65	18.01
31	Tamil Nadu	59549	66123.21	17941	6980.72
32	Telangana	71426	75905.62	26148	13137.94
33	Tripura	1913	900.35	488	84.82
34	Uttarakhand	17958	6879.67	4813	708.94
35	Uttar Pradesh	197547	72107.46	44089	5906.86
36	West Bengal	29804	24733.33	6307	1845.97
	Total	1128265	748863.9	319799	92159.56

This was stated by the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Ajay Kumar Mishra in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha.