The Evolution of Phishing - Sources of Concern
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There are as many sources of malware as there is creativity of scammers and criminals, and unfortunately for us, criminals can be surprisingly creative. The main purpose of this article is to alert you to the dangers of phishing. Phishing almost always takes the form of an unsolicited e-mail.
Quite often, you will not really understand why you are receiving a phishing e-mail at first. As you read it, it will likely tell you it is from your bank, credit card, or some other important part of your life. Although this e-mail is not really genuine, many users become overly concerned that they will do something wrong with this important aspect of their lives and end up just doing whatever the e-mail tells them. Invariably, doing what the e-mail tells you will have you fall for the scam perfectly.
Another common source of malware is independent websites. These websites are small organizations that you have never heard of. These are websites that you have no external reason to trust, and really should not. As such, the website will work very hard to convince you that you should trust it and do whatever it says. Often, the website will promise you something small in return for some small piece of information that “poses no risk.” Either you will be drawn into a series of transactions that ends with you being infected, or you will be infected right away through some trick
A source of malware that surprises many is freeware downloads. Many individuals download free software because it does not cost them anything and often offers the same features of the more expensive products. Often, this software is legitimate and is just as good as it sounds.
However, sometimes the developers of freeware will use their free software as a medium through which to install malware. Although this malware is relatively innocuous and will likely just take some of your computer’s resources, it is still a bad thing to have.
One source of malware that should not surprises anyone is p2p services. Although their popularity has declined recently, p2p programs are an easy way for people to download rare or less-than-legitimate software, movies, and music. The programs will link a user to other similar users that have the files that you want.
Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that the file that you are downloading is really what it is advertised to be. A surprising number of these are malicious files that can take over your computer or send away your information.
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