In the latest survey conducted by Kaspersky Lab, in 2012, 37.3 million Internet users worldwide became victims of phishing.

According to the survey cited by VietNamNet Bridge, the number of Internet users facing this type of attack increased by 87%, from 19.9 million to 37.3 million over the past 12 months. Facebook, Yahoo, Google and Amazon are the main targets of cyber criminals. This study was carried out in June 2013, based on data from the Kaspersky Security Network cloud services.

Phishing is the act of attempting to acquire information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details (and sometimes, indirectly, money) by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. Communications purporting to be from popular social web sites, auction sites, online payment processors or IT administrators are commonly used to lure the unsuspecting public.

Phishing email may contain links to websites that are infected with malware. Phishing is typically carried out by email spoofing or instant messaging and it often directs users to enter details at a fake website whose look and feel are almost identical to the legitimate one.

Phishing is an example of social engineering techniques used to deceive users, and exploits the poor usability of current web security technologies. Attempts to deal with the growing number of reported phishing incidents include legislation, user training, public awareness, and technical security measures.

Email is no longer the most common dispersal mechanism because the survey showed that only 12% of attacks made via emails, while 88% of the remaining cases came from fake sites that users often click on while using web browser, instant messenger system (Skype) or other interactions with the computer. 

VOV