• Menu
  • Solutions
  • Partners
      Partner Program
      Reseller
      MSP
      Become a Partner
      Deal Registration
  • Gatelab
  • Insights
      News
      Resources
  • Company
      About us
      Careers
  • Contact
    Demo
Solutions
Partners
Partner Program Reseller MSP Become a Partner Deal Registration
Gatelab
Insights
News Resources
Company
About us Careers
Contact
Demo
What is phishing?

Updated at: Oct 01, 2019

By Gatefy

What is phishing

Phishing is a cybercrime that happens when a criminal impersonates a person, company or government agency to lure and deceive someone through an email, text message, phone call, social network, or fake website. The vast majority of phishing scams happen via email.

The goal of a phishing attack might be stealing sensitive and important information, getting people to send money, or even gaining access and control over victims’ devices. To do that, the attacker, also called phisher, will lie, spoof, manipulate and use malicious attachments and URLs.

And why is phishing so common? Phishing is one of the major threats these days and one of the attacks most used by fraudsters because it’s much simpler to lie and persuade someone with an email than to hack into a computer.

Phishing and social engineering

Since we are talking about manipulating and lying, one of the main techniques used in phishing scams is social engineering. It includes manipulation methods to gain access to sensitive information that is going to be used for fraudulent purposes.

How phishing works

It's important to be clear that phishing attacks only succeed if the victim falls for the fraud. That's what we call the “human factor”. It's not a type of scam that depends on a software or hardware vulnerability. The person really needs to bite the bait.

In cases of an email scam, victims generally receive a phishing email with an urgent request, an URL, or an attachment that appears to be from someone trusted, such as, for example, a bank, Apple, Microsoft, or Netflix.

If it's a malicious URL, the email message will ask the person to click on the link and update payment information, for example. What the victim doesn't know is that the link will direct to a fake webpage that looks very similar to the real one.

If it's a malicious attachment, the main risk is clicking on the file and getting a malware infection, such as Trojan, virus, or ransomware, which can compromise important information.

How to prevent phishing

The best defense against phishing is a solution that protects your email network, such as a Secure Email Gateway software, with anti-spam, anti-virus, sandbox and other engines. In addition, you have to training your employees. Security awareness is essential for any business.


Latest posts

Main points of comparison between Brazilian LGPD and European GDPR

Main points of comparison between Brazilian LGPD and European GDPR

LGPD and GDPR determine how companies must handle and process such data, what rights the information owners have and what penalties apply if the rules are breached.

Tips to spot Black Friday scams.

5 tips to spot Black Friday scams

Black Friday is coming and that means the attractive pricing season has begun. Unfortunately, however, the Black Friday arrival also raises concerns.

Tricks used in emails to deliver malware

5 tricks used in emails to deliver malware

The combination of malware and email is a dangerous one. These terms are closely related to each other since email is the main malware vector.

Related posts

What is LGPD, the Brazilian General Data Protection Law? Can malware hack and steal your email account? How artificial intelligence and machine learning fight phishing What is big data? Social engineering history in the age of computers and the internet
Back to News
Get the latest news and
reports about cybersecurity
Ready to get a free threat
assessment for your business?

Follow us

Follow us

Like us

Solutions Gatefy Email Protection Email Encryption Email Continuity DLP
Partners Partner Program Reseller MSP Become a Partner
Company About Us Careers Gatelab Contact
Shortcuts Support News Resources Partner Portal
Miami - USA
Tel +1 305 425 9040
Curitiba - BR
Tel +55 41 4042 8280
English ▾
Português
  |   sitemap   |   documentation   |   legal   |   © 2018 Gatefy - todos os direitos reservados