The Dangers of Phishing

Phishing is one of the biggest problems on the internet today, and has lead countless numbers of people to giving their personal information away to someone with malicious intentions. In case you haven’t heard of it yet, here is how it basically works. Skilled hackers build duplicates of popular web sites in order to trick you into logging in. Then, with your password, they can log into your real account and cause all sorts of mischief. For example, the most popular phishing scam involves a duplicate of PayPal. With your account information, hackers can empty your account of money, or conduct more complex scams hiding behind your identity.

In order to avoid being a victim of phishing, you should learn about how URLs work. URLs are, of course, the addresses of the sites that you visit. Usually phishing sites will show URLs that look similar enough to give you confidence. You should always look very close. Say you want to make a transaction on a site called YourBank.com. You should check the URL at the top of your browser and make sure that it says “http://www.YourBank.com” (the www is optional) followed by a forward slash, followed by whatever information the site requires. If it says something like “YourBank.comiaj3k1.org”, you can see that it is a false URL.

In addition to this basic knowledge of URLs, you can also install some sort of software that will keep an eye out for you. Modern browsers such as Mozilla Firefox 2.0 and Internet Explorer 7 have built-in phishing protection. These programs run off of a list of reported websites, and also have filters that will look for certain characteristics of the URL and alert you if it appears suspicious. So if you don’t already have a program like this, then you should consider getting one for your own safety and privacy.

The modern internet has brought us many conveniences, from chatting online to buying groceries online. But as with anything, some people will try to take unfair advantage of the situation. So while you are enjoying the benefits of technology, you should also keep on the lookout for attempts to steal your personal information. If you get involved in a phishing scam, it can be a real pain to get sorted out.