What is Phishing?
It’s not following a certain hippie band, nor is it heading down to the lake to catch a trout. Phishing relates to a type of email scam designed to deceive recipients into sharing sensitive information with a hacker. Phishing emails often appear to come from a reputable source such as a bank, social media channel, internal department, or another business with whom you have an account, like a retailer, online game, or online music service.
How to Recognize This Threat: Phishing emails initially appear to be official, but can usually be spotted on closer examination due to slight variations in “From” addresses, typos within the text, or graphics that don’t look quite right. They often include links and attachments to deliver malware.
How to Prevent This Threat: As a general practice, email recipients should not directly click links within email messages and be especially wary of downloading attachments. Organizations should train users to spot phishing emails and avoid interacting with them. For the best protection, email security appliances and subscriptions are designed to stop phishing and the many other threats that might come through email.