Useful measures to combat data phishing | technology

The Federal Office for Information Technology Security said that data phishing has become a part of digital life, such as video clips and social networking, where senders of fraudulent emails often reach their target and spy on user data, according to what was published by the German News Agency.

Warning signs

The office added that although fraudulent emails are constantly improving, there are many warning signs that can be noticed, such as:

– Does the user feel strange about the email?

-Is there consistency between the sender, the subject of the message, and the attachments? Or is there something unusual, such as having an invoice without ordering any purchases? Or is the bank suddenly asking for a password? Or why kids suddenly send an email with an unknown attachment?

Critical questions

The Federal Office for Information Technology Security advised asking some critical questions:

-Do I know the sender?

– Does the email title make sense?

– Should I expect the arrival of this facility?

If the user has doubts about the message, then he may not open it, but rather delete it immediately. In the past, writing phishing messages was characterized by some traditional warning signs, such as writing in poor language, poor graphics, and spelling errors. Although these errors no longer exist now, there are some traditional warning signs that still exist today, including:

The opening salutation in the email should be unclear

The wording of the email suggests a lack of time or threats

– An urgent need to take urgent action such as receiving parcels

– Request to verify username and password or download a file

– Product offers that are of exaggerated quality.

The German Federal Office indicated that companies and government agencies never ask the user for passwords, banking data, or any other confidential information via e-mail messages.

5 actions

All Internet users usually receive phishing scams, but the Federal Office for Information Technology Security recommends the following five measures to combat such attacks:

– Relying on strong passwords, which are difficult to guess and consist of at least 8 to 12 characters, including uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and special signs, with the necessity of using a specific password for each electronic account. Here, it is necessary to use password management programs to create and store secure passwords. Among these popular programs are “Keepass” and “Onepassword,” as well. This service is available in Internet browsing programs such as Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox.

Passkeys provide more security on the Internet, as they are encrypted access data that does not open the account until the user is identified. Passkeys are stored on computers or smartphones, and login to the electronic account is only done after confirming the login via the smartphone. Some services do not currently provide the Passkey function.

– Activate two-factor authentication: This function adds a second security level in addition to the password. A code is sent to the user via SMS or a smartphone application, and when using the two-factor authentication function, the account remains protected even if the password is hacked.

– Disable HTML display: When using e-mail programs such as Outlook or Thunderbird to access e-mail messages, the user can in the settings menu switch to displaying the plain text of e-mail messages. This mode prevents the downloading of potential malicious software components. E-mail messages may not look elegant, but The user thus avoids tracking pixels, hidden links and malicious codes.

German experts also advised moderation in the use of e-mail. Alternative addresses can be used when registering for newsletters and electronic forums.