Google Jumps On The Phishing Bandwagon
How much do you trust the information you get off the Internet? Even better, how about the emails you receive? With identity theft rising out of control you would be well off to say “hardly ever never” It’s got to the point the even Google is throwing their hat in the ring
Social engineering is a broad term for criminals that team together to steal people identity. Phishing is just one facet of that and originated around 1996 with AOL users posing as employees trying to ‘verify’ users accounts. Today it runs rampid among social sites like MySpace and Face book
On April 29, 2008, Ian Fette (Google security team) spelled out the way people get hooked every day. Predators masquerade as banks, merchants, payment services and even governments to trick people into visiting a website that looks like the original but is only there to harvest valuable personal information from you. You knew that things are getting bad with phishing and pharming when Google gets involved, because after all, Google makes their money from people ‘trusting’ the Internet. If people loose faith, they will stop clicking on the ads Google runs in their browser and seek applications that can deliver safer online interaction.
I’m writing this in late April 2009 and by the time you read it, thousands upon thousands of innocent people will have fallen prey to these identity thieves. One preventative measure is to never click on a link that leads to your bank. Manually type the URL into the address bar… Make sure it is a secure site with the ” https:// ” in front of it… Use an updated browser like Firefox, Internet Explorer, or Opera that includes phishing filters that can help you spot potential phishing attacks.
Point is, just like you stay aware of your surroundings while walking down the street, pay attention to what comes across your computer screen. Because a thief from half way around the world can come right into your home and do more damage then a mugger in Central Park.
Being employed by a nation wide cable/internet provider has opened my eyes even more to just how bad things have gotten with identity theft. I now live by and enforce laws passed down by the Federal Trade Commission and the FCC when it comes to protecting a customers identity over the phone or via email. Many more sobering details are at My Computer
Nightmares
Tags: phishing attacks, phishing email, phishing fraud, phishing protection, phishing
Related Posts
- The Battle Between Microsoft And Google
- Ethical Seo Wins In The Long Term
- Click-thru Rates On Google Banner Ads Outperform Click-through Ratios Of Other Media Banners
- Click-thru Rates On Google Banner Ads Outperform Click-through Ratios Of Other Media Banners
- If Youre Not Using SEO Blogs? Then You Are Leaving Huge Amounts Of Cash on The Table!