When we surf the web we can run into many types of attacks that put our security at risk. Different types of malware, techniques used by hackers to attack, vulnerabilities that can be exploited … Today we echo an alert launched by Microsoft. They warn that Spear Phishing is a threat to take into account today and we must protect ourselves. We will explain how this type of attack works and what we can do to protect ourselves.
Microsoft warns of the risk of Spear Phishing
Microsoft has now launched an alert of the danger of Spear Phishing and how it is one of the most important threats today. As we know there are differences between normal Phishing and Spear Phishing. These differences make these second attacks more dangerous, as they could have a greater chance of success.
How is Phishing and Spear Phishing different? In the first case we are facing attacks that use baits to steal credentials and passwords . Basically they are messages through email, SMS or social networks that try to make the user believe that it is legitimate. They are generic messages and are the same for all users.
However, when we talk about Spear Phishing, those messages are personalized . This means that they are addressed to a specific person, in their name, knowing their tastes, having information on what platforms they use, etc. In this way they have greater success. It is not the same to send a Phishing message of the type “dear user” about a supposed problem on a given platform, than to do it by naming that person by name and also indicating that there is an error in a certain service that person uses.
Therefore, the probability of success is much higher and this has caused Microsoft to launch alerts to users. We are facing a type of threats that is increasingly present and therefore more victims. Microsoft indicates that these types of attacks are so well focused that they have even tricked senior executives who are experts in technology and security.
How these attacks act and what to do to protect us
Hackers focus their efforts on gathering information about the possible victim . They look for ways to learn more about them, to know their hobbies, where they move, what platforms they use … This way they manage to create fully customized attacks that are credible enough. This makes it very important to always preserve the information on the network.
Of course, if these attacks were successful, cybercriminals would have access to victims’ accounts . They could steal passwords and access credentials. Something that puts the security and privacy of users at risk.
The best thing to protect ourselves from such attacks is common sense . You always have to access directly from the official pages or platforms. You must never enter from links that we receive by email or third-party pages. We must be careful when trusting addresses that we do not know and get to download any type of file we receive by e-mail.
It will also be important to use security tools and have updated devices. In this way we can protect ourselves not only from these types of attacks, but also from the entry of very varied malware.
