What is a phishing email?
Phishing is a form of social engineering cyberattack where fake
emails and web pages are used to access the victim's device or gather personal
information. So an email that appears to be from a trustworthy source but is
actually from a malicious sender is called a phishing email. Attackers imitate
the identity of a legitimate entity in this attack, such as a real person the
victim knows or would conduct business with.
Since so many emails are sent and received daily, it can be challenging to spot phishing emails. Therefore, this article discusses how to recognize a phishing email.
Ways to recognize a phishing email:
Below is a list of key signs of a phishing email:
·
The domain name is
misspelled: Check the misspelled email address. Simply examine the email
address; many phishing emails will appear to come from a well-known company,
but the actual email address is unrelated to the one they are imitating.
Remember that an email from a public domain, such as gmail.com or yahoo.com, is
not necessarily an official email.
·
The email contains unusual
links or attachments: Many attackers include links or attachments in their emails
that you did not expect and that could contain viruses or redirect you to
malicious websites. Therefore, you must be wary of any emails with unexpected
attachments.
·
Unusual date and time: Since no legitimate
individual or organization sends email during non-working hours or on holidays,
you must look for the unusual date or time as well as the organization's
regular business days or hours.
·
Name of the sender: Possibly, the sender might
be a total stranger who sent you the email.
·
Unfamiliar salutation or
greeting: In a phishing email, salutations are typically impersonal as
well.
·
Email is trying to create a
sense of urgency or threat: Examine the email's tone; if the sender is pressing you
to click on the attachment or link, it is a big red flag. Any urgent or ominous
subject line is a good sign that the email is a phishing scam.
·
The email includes many
grammatical or spelling errors: Phishing emails frequently contain
poorly written content that may be rife with grammatical mistakes or strange
wording. Always keep in mind that a legitimate person or business will send
well-written emails. Remember that attackers may impersonate legitimate
organization logos to lead you to assume they are a reputable company; do not
fall for this trick.
· Asking for personal information: Keep in mind that legitimate businesses or organizations will not email you to ask for your personal information.
You can refer to:
How can InfosecTrain help?
Phishing is one of the popular ways for cybercriminals to obtain
personal information about you or your company. As humans are typically the
target of such attacks, it is one of the frequent causes of data breaches. At InfosecTrain, we consider knowledge to be a
significant weapon. Therefore, our trainers are here to help you if you want to
learn more about how to recognize a phishing email and how to defend against
such threats. Enroll in our various cybersecurity training courses like CompTIA Security+, CompTIA Cloud+, Cyber Security Orientation
Program, Information Security
Analyst, CCSP, and others.
