Why Phishing Attacks Are Now More Dangerous

When browsing the Internet, we can come across many types of threats that can compromise our security. There are many types of strategy that hackers can use. One of them is Phishing, a method of spoofing your identity to steal passwords. In this article we are going to talk about why Phishing attacks are now more dangerous and more present.

Phishing attacks are more dangerous than ever

We are not facing a new threat, far from it. Keep in mind that Phishing attacks are a very old method used by cybercriminals to steal passwords or sneak malware . It is mainly used through email, but it could also arrive by SMS or even through social networks.

Why Phishing Attacks Are Now More Dangerous

However, with the passage of time the strategies have been perfecting. They have managed to capture the attention of the victim and get them to access a link or download a file . They always use a bait to get it. For example, they can pretend to be a legitimate page to log in, but it is actually a scam.

Now, why are Phishing attacks now more dangerous? They have mainly managed to escape antivirus and security tools. They have managed to go undetected and reach the victim through e-mail or SMS. That makes it a very important problem, as many users do not have the necessary knowledge and can fall into the trap.

But they are also more dangerous due to the rise of attachments they generate to sneak malware. These files, which in many cases are PDFs, are used to redirect traffic to malicious pages. The antivirus does not detect the file as a threat, as it is simply text. However, that text will contain the links that the victim will visit.

On the one hand, they will be able to avoid the antivirus with this method, but also include dangerous links in the attachments that otherwise could also be suspicious for users if they go directly in the body of the message.

In this way they manage to increase the probability of success. They get victims to click on those fraudulent links and ultimately expose personal information, passwords and even install malicious software that opens a back door on the computer.

Plataformas comunes en ataques Phishing

How to avoid being victims of Phishing

All this means that we must avoid being victims of Phishing. You have to take into account certain tips to avoid making mistakes that could make their work easier for hackers and steal your passwords or infect your computers.

The first thing to avoid being a victim of Phishing is common sense . We must avoid making mistakes such as opening links that come to us through third parties that we do not trust. Also download any kind of suspicious file or login via links.

But in addition to this, something very important is also having security tools . A good antivirus will help us avoid the entry of malicious software that can be used by an attacker to control our computer.

On the other hand, it is also essential to have the latest versions available. On many occasions, vulnerabilities arise that can be exploited by hackers to carry out their attacks. Hence, we must correct the faults.