The biggest evolution in phishing is spear phishing. No, it's not a sport, it's a scam and you are the target.
Spear phishing is sending an email that looks like it comes from someone or a business you know. But it doesn't. It comes from criminal hackers who want your credit card and bank account numbers, passwords, and financial information on your computer. Learn how to protect your computer.
Spear Phishing Techniques
Email from a “Friend”
Spear phishers thrive on familiarity. They know your name, your email address, and a few things about you. The greeting of the message will likely be personalized: “Hi, George” instead of “Dear Sir.” The email might refer to a “mutual friend.” Or a recent online purchase you made. Because the message appears to come from someone you know, you might be less cautious and give them the information they ask for. But when it’s a business you know and they’re asking for your immediate response, you might make the mistake of not thinking twice.
They use your web presence against you
How can you become a target of a spear phisher? From the information you make available online through your computer or smartphone. For example, criminals might scan various social networking sites and find your page, your email address, your list of friends, and a recent post where you told your friends about the new camera you bought online. Using this information, a spear phisher might pose as a friend, send you an email, and ask you for the password for your photo page. If you respond with the password, they will try to use that password and various variations of it to gain access to your account at the online store you mentioned. If they manage to find the right password, they will use it to charge you. Otherwise, the spear phisher can use the same information to impersonate a representative of the online store and ask you to reset your password or verify your credit card number. If you provide this information, the criminals will harm you financially.
Keep your secrets, secrets
How safe you and your information are depends on how careful you are. Think carefully about your online presence. How much information about you is freely available that could be used to set up a scam against you? Your name? Your email address? The names of your friends? Your friends' email addresses? Are you a member of a popular social networking site, for example? Take a look at what you post. Have you posted things you don't want scammers to know? Have you posted something on a friend's page that reveals too much about you?
Passwords that don't work
Think about the passwords you use. Do you use just one password or easy variations of the same password? You shouldn't do any of these, as you're making it easier for scammers to gain access to your personal financial information. Each password for each website you visit should be truly different. You'll get the best results by using random letters and numbers. Change your passwords regularly. Your Internet security software and operating system can help you remember your passwords.
Patches, updates and security software
When you receive a notification from software manufacturers that updates are available, install them immediately. Most operating system and browser updates include security fixes. Your name and email address may be all a hacker needs to get through a security hole in your system. Of course, it goes without saying that you should always have protection from online security software, which should always be up-to-date.
Be smart
If you receive an email from a “friend” asking you to reveal a password or other information, call or send a message (with a separate email) to that friend to make sure they have actually contacted you. The same goes for emails from banks and businesses. In principle, real businesses would never send an email asking you to reveal passwords or account numbers. If you think the email might be genuine, call the bank or business to confirm. Otherwise, visit their official website. Most banks have an email address to which you can forward suspicious emails for verification.
And always remember: Never give out too much personal information online, as you never know who might use that information against you. Or how.
Spear Phishing: Tips from Norton
