You know to watch for phishing attacks, which
use e-mail messages purporting to be from legitimate businesses to
trick you into divulging private information. You're cautious and use a
good spam filter, but phishing messages still get through. And these
messages are more dangerous than ever.
According to Cisco, almost 200 billion spam messages are sent daily. They have one thing in common: They want your money.
Most computer users can spot phishing messages. Unfortunately, cybercriminals have become more sophisticated, too. Targeted phishing attacks account for 0.4% of spam. That may seem minor, but it's 800 million messages a day.
For example, you receive a message purportedly from your Internet service provider. It greets you by name and says your billing information is outdated. It says you must click a link to update your information. If you comply, your information will be stolen. This is the type of targeted attack you will see more of in 2009.
News 3 years ago
