Phishing is a term that we are starting to hear more frequently than we would like. Unfortunately, the greater the digitalization, the higher the risks of suffering a scam or cyberattack. Pablo Plaza Martínez is a cybersecurity analyst at BISITE Research Group, member of the Spanish cybersecurity team and participant in CTF competitions at national and international level; he participates in Module 2a “Cybersecurity Awareness” of C1b3rWall Academy 2021, in a conference entitled “Phishing attacks. Will you fall into the trap?”.
Phishing is a type of fraud that employs social engineering tricks to deceive its victims. The attack is carried out through electronic communications in which the attacker attempts to persuade the victim to interact with a posed bait. The targets are typically:
- Data theft.
- Malware distribution.
- Identity theft.
How can you protect yourself?
The first step would be a study of the target; in this phase, the attacker monitors the social networks of the target or targets, collects information and spies on them. Subsequently, the attacker chooses the most appropriate electronic media for the victim (mail, sms, call, ads…). Then, the victim falls for the bait, i.e., clicks on the link, enters data, downloads a file, etc. Finally, the attacker obtains the data and executes the malware.
There are advanced techniques that allow attackers to execute phishing attacks despite protection such as two-factor authentication. Tools such as Evilginx allow hyper-realistic impersonation of the websites of companies such as Amazon, Google, etc. and steal credentials. Other techniques use malicious devices that look like USB sticks or mice that, when connected to a computer, execute malware or steal data.
You can read the full article on News-365.
Pablo invites us to reflect on the discussed cases, as well as teaches us how to successfully detect phishing cases. To discover all these tips, register for free at C1b3rWall Academy 2021.
You also have the opportunity to delve deeper into this and other issues related to Internet security with the Master’s in Cybersecurity of the University of Salamanca. Registration is now open for the call that will start in February 2022.
More information is available at the following link.
Juan M. Corchado 