Know About Phishing Lures and How to Stay Safe

Posted on: Feb 6, 2023 | 3 mins | Written by: HDFC ERGO Team

Know About Phishing Lures and How to Stay Safe

Cyber-attacks and cyber crimes are one of the biggest threats companies, and individuals face. The number of such cases is increasing; thus, cyber insurance is becoming critical. When we talk of cyber threats, phishing is one of the most common ones that individuals face.

A phishing attack is a way in which cyber criminals and scammers try to extract money or personal information and use it for the wrong purposes. The main issue with phishing is that there are several ways that scammers can use it, and it can be done in person, by email, by phone, or online.

With the extensive use of the internet and technology, there is a lot of information that is available, and thus, to know what is trustworthy and what is not and thus, it is good to know about phishing lures and how can cybersecurity insurance helps.

Let us read about phishing lures and know which the common ones are and how one can spot them to stay safe.

What are phishing lures?

It is essential to know what the common phishing lures are. Forms of phishing and lures are different things; thus, understanding the difference to ensure safety is important. A phishing lure works like bait and, thus, is the tactic that scammers use to steal information. The lure used has to be very tempting to ensure that the user falls into the trap.

Let us now talk about some of the common phishing lures that scammers use:

1. Impersonating a known person:

This is one of the most common lures used in an organisation. In this kind of lure, the target usually is a lower-level employee. This is a much targeted phishing lure where the hacker uses the name of one of the management team or a senior of the company and sends emails and asks for login details or any other confidential information which can give them access to the company’s systems.

Another kind of lure is when the higher-level employee is tricked by the name of a business partner. Most of these baits, or lures as they are called, involve asking for some confidential information on an urgent basis giving the target not much time to think and do the needful.

The email used by such hackers is very similar to the real one. Thus, if an email comes with a little suspicious content, the first thing should be to check the email address, and all the links in the email have links that take you to a trusted site.

2. Urgent requests:

The lures for phishing attacks work on social engineering and force the target to work in haste and take a hasty and wrong decision. They create a sense of fear and my making the whole situation sound very stressful and urgent. They ask for sensitive information, which could be personal or financial. Such types of phishing lures can happen over calls and emails.

Again for emails, they usually pose as a senior management team member and send links that take them to non-trusted websites and do a transaction that might involve a monetary transfer or ask for confidential information, which gives them access to the systems.

For such scams, a cyber insurance policy is a must-have for corporates, but more important than that is to be alert and safe.

3. Camouflage:

Camouflaging as a phishing lure is very similar to impersonating, where rather than impersonating someone, the lure is blended with content that is legitimate. These lures are not very targeted and active but passive. This kind of lure is prevalent in phishing on search engines. This usually depends on trustworthiness, like the websites people trust, which show in search engine results.

Sometimes when websites redirect to another one which is malicious also is a way of playing with the trust of users. Having cybersecurity insurance is essential, and one can see many claims of cyber insurance in India, but still, the ideal thing is to be careful and check everything properly.

4. Impersonating an entity:

We have discussed how hackers impersonate an individual and use this as a lure to extract confidential information. If you see the claims under cyber insurance in India, you will see many cases of impersonation, which are not restricted to individuals but entities.

These people use the name of these entities they know you are familiar with and use extensively and then send links that lead you to a different website and extract confidential information.

When it comes to cyber insurance, these cases are rising; thus, one needs to be very sure before clicking on a link.

How can potential victims spot some of the most common phishing lures?

Having cyber insurance is always helpful, but as they say, prevention is better than cure. One must know how to spot phishing lures and stay safe. Some of the ways to spot these are:

1. There is only restricted information that one needs, and the minute you feel someone is asking for something extra, you should become alert and refuse to give it if you have the slightest doubt.

2. Check the URL before you click on any link.

3. Check a person's email address and name before you share any information on the email.

4. Avoid deals or free stuff when the offer seems too good. This should be a red alert sign.

5. Always check the website before logging in anywhere. Forging a legitimate website is a widespread scam to get information and a financial scam.

6. Always use reputed and good security software to protect your systems.

Conclusion

In India still, many people need to understand the importance of cyber insurance. They think it is a product for big corporates, but they will be surprised to see the current scams in the country. Phishing attacks are one of the most common today, and the lures, i.e. baits for these, are also changing daily. This demands that all web users be cautious not to fall into the trap of hackers and divulge confidential information that can lead to financial losses or misuse of data. Thus, understanding these and looking out for red flags is very important.

In this post, we have discussed some common phishing lures that one must be careful of and what should be kept in mind to ensure you do not fall into the trap. Always remember, safety in the present times of excessive dependence on the internet is critical.

Disclaimer: The above information is for illustrative purpose only. For more details, please refer to policy wordings and prospectus before concluding the sales.

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