Internet Safety: Other Internet Threats

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Phishing
   1. How Phishing Works
   2. Phishing Scam
   3. Phishing examples: Egg
   4. Phishing Example: Nationwide
   5. Phishing Example: Barclays
   6. Phishing Example: PayPal
   7. Defending Yourself Against Phishing
   8. Phishing Quiz
3. Identity Theft
4. Hoaxes
5. Ransomware
6. Hackers
7. Cyberbullying
8. Internet Grooming

Phishing

Phishing is the Internet word for Fishing. You may have used the phrase "fishing for information". This is essentially what phishing is, but applied to the Internet rather than talking to someone face-to-face. It is related to the term Phreaking, used to describe the activities of phone phreaks, who attempt to manipulate the telephone system to obtain free phone calls.

Phishing is generally carried out by Internet criminals and fraudsters who wish to get their hands on a computer user's valuable personal information. This information usually includes credit card details, user login details and passwords.

Click on this link to view the Microsoft video on Phishing. Look for "Protecting your household from online fraud".

The latest threat to appear is phishing via SMS, known as SMiShing. SMS stands for Short Message Service and is the system used to send text messages over mobile phones.

Some mobile phone users have been receiving text messages saying, "We're confirming you've signed up for our dating service. You will be charged $2/day unless you cancel your order" and giving a web link to follow. Security experts believe that this kind of attack is on the increase. You can get more information by following this link to SMiShing.

Next: How Phishing Works