In the News
In Spam Ticked Downward in 2017, but Phishing Was Up, Tara Seals discusses how spam attempts decreased slightly in 2017, but phishing attempts increased by almost 60%. Seals explains that such attempts are extremely thoughtful and often utilize official logos and have begun to operate using cryptocurrency and Bitcoin.
Our Take
While spam might be annoying, phishing is often the real danger to your data. These attempts are becoming more sophisticated and often appear to look extremely legitimate, spoofing email addresses that look familiar to you and scraping web pages that are exact copies of pages you expect to see. Malicious attackers hope that you take their phish at face value and trust the information given in the email, often luring an individual in with financial incentives. Despite their legitimate appearance, these attempts are designed to steal your credentials to log into accounts and take personal or financial information.
Recommendations
So how can you protect yourself from a spam or phishing attempt?
- Understand what a scam email might look like
- Be cautious of emails sent from unfamiliar sources, especially when they claim urgency or rewards
- Don’t click on links or call phone numbers located within the suspect e-mail: log into your accounts via your usual browser bookmarks and call publicly published numbers