Key Words: Information Security, Phishing, Pharming, Spam

We store a lot of information on our computers and mobile devices. Some of this information is sensitive and personal and we would not want it falling into the wrong hands. Sensitive information can include:

• Credit card details
• Banking information
• Addresses / Phone numbers of friends and family

As soon as we log onto the Internet our sensitive information is at risk of 'hackers' and 'fraudsters' from trying to steal it. Common methods include:

• Phishing
• Pharming
• Spam

'Phishing' is used to describe methods that thieves use to 'fish' for our data.

This is where fraudsters try and trick us into giving up our bank details, credit card details, usernames and passwords.

Phishing is usually carried out over emails pretending to be from legitimate organisations like banks and building societies.

The emails usually say that there is a problem with your account and then they ask you to provide your usernames, passwords or account numbers so that the problem can be rectified.

If you provide these details then the criminals will be able to use them to help themselves to your cash.

Ways to reduce the risk of getting 'phished' 1. 2. 3. 4. Never ever give your bank details or passwords out over email. Banks NEVER ask their customers for this information. Some phishing scams promise you enormous wealth "If you pay a small administration fee". If something sounds too good to be true then it probably is and you would be best off ignoring the mail. Report any phishing attempts to your email account provider. Don't respond to emails from people you do not know.

NOTE! In 2007, phishing cost the USA alone around 3.7 BILLION dollars. Phishing is extremely profitable to thieves but they rely on our stupidity to hand over our sensitive data.

The intention of pharming is the same as phishing..... to obtain personal information such as usernames, passwords and bank details etc. Pharming usually targets users of online banking or shopping websites.

The way this is done however is slightly different. 'Pharmers' infect legitimate websites with malicious code that will 're-direct' you to their bogus version of the website.

The bogus website will look very similar, or even identical, as the legitimate website. This makes pharming very dangerous and difficult to detect.

Ways to reduce the risk of getting 'pharmed' 1. 2. Check the url (web address) of the website before you enter personal information. The bogus website will usually have a slightly different address to the legitimate website. Make sure that you are on a secure website before entering personal information. The way to tell is to look at the url: A secure connection's address will begin with https An unsecure connection will begin with http

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spam is 'junk email' that is sent automatically to thousands, or even millions, of email inboxes. Spam over-runs your inbox very quickly and it is a pain to have to delete all of these unwanted emails every day.

'Spammers' send these unwanted emails for a range of different reasons including:

• Advertising low quality products
• Spreading viruses
• Phishing purposes

Spammers get your email address from a range of sources. This is called 'harvesting email addresses'. The sources include:

• Mailing lists
• Chat rooms
• Programs that scour websites for email addresses
• Bought illegally from dishonest employee's of internet companies

Ways to reduce the risk of spam 1. 2. Spam filters are included with most email accounts. These can be used to automatically separate junk email from legitimate emails. You can then quickly delete the contents of the junk email folder. Don't post your email address in public websites like chat rooms or social networking sites.

 

NOTE! In 2011 it is estimated that seven trillion spam emails were sent over the Internet (that's seven thousand billion). Spam emails account for around 80% of all the emails sent around the world.