Security: how to prevent phishing and smishing

We have all experienced scam attempts at least once: via phone, email (phishing) or sms (smishing).

How to recognize the dangers and not fall into the trap of the malicious ones?

Table of contents:
What is phishing and why is it so widespread?
How to protect yourself from phishing?
What is smishing?
How to protect yourself from smishing?
How to reduce spam and improve email delivery
What is phishing and why is it so widespread?
Phishing is a fairly widespread practice online, a scam that invites users to share personal information and data.

The goal in phishing is identity theft, leading the user to click on a link or have a file downloaded to the device to try to obtain login credentials to a website or banking contacts.

Over time, hackers have developed increasingly targeted phishing practices with the aim of convincing the user to take deceptive actions. These maneuvers include:

• seemingly trustworthy links that redirect to websites that engage in phishing activities;
• malicious attachments designed to cause damage to the victim’s system and files;
• requests to fill out misleading information and data.

Phishing is perhaps the easiest type of cyber attack to implement, but it is also the most effective because it does not exploit technical vulnerabilities in computer systems, but instead leverages careless human behavior.

How to protect yourself from phishing?
What precautionary measures can be taken to avoid falling into the phishing net?

• Remember that official institutions/organizations never request sensitive information via email or text message.
• Always check the sender or the email address from which the message came and the relevant links within the text before clicking on them; you can check the veracity of the link by simply hovering your mouse over it to make sure it matches.
• Check that the URL of the page has a security protocol and thus starts with HTTPS and not http. In fact, websites used by malicious attackers are often “unsecured” because they lack a security protocol.
• Use computer security tools such as anti-malware protection software.

What is smishing?
While phishing is a well-known practice now, and is perhaps easier to identify, smishing is a rather “young” cyber crime. Smishing means sms phishing, that is, phishing accomplished via SMS.

Indeed, it may happen that you receive notifications directly via text message, usually from package delivery companies, banks, or other online retailers. Some messages, however, may be fake, made for the sole purpose of tricking you into clicking on a link telling you, for example, to check your bank balance or that your shipment is overdue. Clicking on them is quite similar to email phishing: you may be directed to a form to fill out, so hackers can gain access to your personal information.

Smishing is a practice that needs to be handled carefully because many people do not have the same level of antivirus and anti-malware protection on their phones as they do on their computers.

How to protect yourself from smishing?
What practices to implement to protect yourself from smishing?

• Pay attention to the phone numbers that contact you.
• Do not click on links contained within the messages.
• Financial institutions do not ask via text message to update sensitive data.

How to reduce spam and improve email delivery
Shellrent offers Mail Protection, a service that not only adds authority to your domain but can also protect your inbox from junk mail.

Benefits of Mail Protection include:

• More reliable delivery
• Increased delivery rating
• Reduced spam and spoofing

Basically, thanks to authentication protocols, your emails will be rated as better by spam filters and this can improve delivery rating and delivery. In fact, the recipient’s server will be able to securely verify the authenticity of the sender and the legitimacy of the communication.