Phishing is still a very serious security problem that affects more people than it should. It is when a hacker attempts to obtain sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and even credit card details, by disguising themselves as a trustworthy entity, most commonly in the form of an email. The severity of this problem is often due to hackers using this information for malicious and criminal activities. Hackers are very good at this and have many ways to mislead victims into sharing their data. The main concern would be to figure out how to protect your information from these malicious attempts from the hackers. There are many ways to prevent this from happening, but the following is the most effective and easiest way to identify when to ignore requests such as these.
Using plain text email
Ensure that your email account is set up to view emails using plain text as your default setting. Looking at links in plain text allows you to actually read the URL and spot the suspicious ones used in a lot of phishing scams. Identifying these dodgy URLs will save you from entering a website that could be detrimental to your overall online security status. This method is the best way to avoid any mishaps that occur so often with just a click of a button. Considering the fact that mobile and computer risks differ, exercising caution is still really important. Online security applies to every device used for the internet, so practising this method should apply to all of your devices.
One should also always make sure that the person you are communicating with is indeed who they say they are, and if in doubt, ask the person who made the request for information directly. It is unlikely that the person concerned will be irritated with your request if they are genuine and all you are doing is helping prevent your organisation’s security from being compromised.