23% of people that receive phishing emails will open them

What is Phishing?

Phishing is the fraudulent practice of sending emails purporting to be from reputable companies in order to induce individuals to reveal personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers, online. As a company providing IT support services we feel obligated to educate people on the dangers of this scam.

Fraudsters will send emails to thousands, if not millions of email addresses. By spamming in such large quantities the fraudster (phisher) calculates the email being read by a percentage of people who either have an account with who they pretend to be or replies to the emails request believing it to be genuine.

The term Phishing is a variation on ‘fishing’, the concept is that the bait (the email) is thrown out with the hopes that while most will ignore the bait, some will be tricked into biting.

Phishing emails often look like genuine communications from legitimate organisations and can contain:

• Fake information requesting account activations or security confirmations.
• Website links to fake website which look very similar to “real” websites These may request your username and password information
• Urgent request for payment from creditors

Want to protect your business from the dangers online that could severely damage your business? Consider Anti-Virus as a part of your managed IT services.