Cyber Security and Phishing Attacks on Customers and Companies

This report discusses the growth of cybersecurity and the threat of phishing attacks on individuals and companies. It covers the different types of phishing attacks and methods used by criminals to scam people. The report also provides measures and recommendations to prevent getting scammed, including employee anti-phishing training.

C3101 Coursework
Cyber security and phishing attacks
on customers and companies

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY ..................................................................................................................................4
Research into phishing attacks...............................................................................................4
Defence against phishing attacks............................................................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
In the modern business landscape where both private and governmental enterprises have
developed their own digital infrastructure, the growth of cybersecurity has been immense as
there is always a looming threat over sensitive data regarding theft and unauthorized access. The
data collected from people and their digital footprints are vulnerable to attacks such as phishing
and illegal hacking (Kam, and et.al., 2020). This report will include detailed research on various
avenues of cyber security by paying emphasis on how phishing attacks are defined and executed
with malicious intents in mind along with the different ways which have been developed by
individuals and companies to deal with this threat diligently.
MAIN BODY
Research into phishing attacks
Although the growth of digital forms of business and use of internet to supplement all
basic activities of daily life has completely changed the way humans lead their lives in the 21st
century, there is also a grave risk of people employing these technologically advanced features
with ill-intent on their minds. Among various issues which plague the current cyber security
frameworks developed and used by multiple business and government enterprises globally,
phishing attacks are one of the most commonly seen methods which contains many dangers for
both people and organizations (Burns, Johnson and Caputo, 2019). Phishing refers to the practice
of sending fraudulent communication sources and signals which appear as if they arrive from a
trustworthy source to people who are targeted with such malicious programs. The main intent
behind phishing is to steal and manipulate sensitive information like credit card information or
important passwords and attaching harmful viruses and malware on a desired computer system
which can damage it beyond repair. Phishing is a complex task and has multiple types out of
which spear phishing is very dangerous as it is very specific and advanced form of digital threat
where particular individuals and companies are targeted with phishing instead of a wide group of
people. Spear fishing is used by criminals and other malicious minded individuals to target
specific victims by applying highly streamlined and customized coding programs to their current
existing phishing programs which makes them more lethal and convenient to hack, damage or
install viruses on a particular system. This usually happens with the help of e-mails which is a

technology used by almost every individual and business concern globally and the spear phishing
programs make the mails look authentic and attractive and make people click on links which take
them to fraudulent webpages where hacking and stealing of data can easily take place. Social
media has also played a huge role in making the growth of phishing and also increasing the reach
of such criminal who employ such underhanded tactics to scam innocent people and vulnerable
institutions. The reason why social media has resulted in increased phishing attacks is because
social media provides such people with a very wide and large user base to target on a daily basis
while offering multiple points of entry because of their extensive partnership with other
companies and brands. People use phishing scams through posts and clickbait links on social
media coupled with an attractive thumbnail which direct people to dubious webpages such as
Instagram stories and tweets on Twitter.
A major part of the entire phishing process which is painstakingly executed by criminals
to scam people on a global, basis almost everyday is concerned with gathering their login details
and other sensitive information which can then be used to either hack into their personal
accounts or gathering of bank details for illegal access to their monetary funds. Hackers and
other criminals manage to collect such vital information from people using various cheap and
dirty tactics which are listed herein.
 Making people click on internet generated links which take them to fraudulent webpages
which quickly scan or hack their system capabilities
 Sending of professional looking fake e-mails and making them look like they belong to
prestigious organizations such as government institutions and job hiring announcements
 Usage of social media posts and viral content marketing to influence people to sign up on
dangerous websites which collects their login details (Azeez, and et.al., 2021).
 Installation of viruses and malware on systems which automatically extract and steal vital
information from users without hem even realizing it in multiple cases.
Phishing carries devastating consequences for all people and companies involved as it
results in stealing of sensitive data which can spell trouble for every party involved as hackers
can then use such data to blackmail, exploit and extort people and firms for a huge amount of
money. Phishing scams also lead to people getting their bank accounts cleaned up through
stealing of their credit card details. Massive social media companies which have a lot of personal

information of people with them are also victims of Phishing as both Google and Facebook have
been scammed for millions of dollars in the past through people targeting them by impersonating
as their common vendor, Quanta between 2013 and 2015 (The Five Most Costly Phishing
Attacks to Date, 2022).
Defence against phishing attacks
The reason as to why phishing is such a widely used method to scam people out of
money and other valuable information is that is very effective the age of social media where viral
memes and clickbait articles can be used to trick and influence people into giving up their
sensitive details or get their systems hacked unintentionally (Shahbaznezhad, Kolini and
Rashidirad, 2021). Due to this rampant use of dirty phishing tactics worldwide where common
people and multinational corporations worth billions have all been targeted in the same way,
there have been multiple measures developed by people to combat phishing attacks and protect
their computer systems and vital information. Some of the methods which have come up in
recent years by companies against phishing have been highlighted herein.
 Use of security software – Simply leaving a computer system idle irrespective of
whether it is situated at home of an individual or it is a a part of a business's digital
infrastructure, can be quite disastrous as hackers can send phishing software's and easily
attack viruses to steal data. Speciality software such as antivirus, company specific
firewall systems and applications which are designed specifically to keep phishers out of
systems such as Brandshield Anti-phishing and RSA FraudAction must be installed and
used throughout the active hours people spend on the system.
 Regulation of devices in individual and company use – One of the major reasons
behind prevalence of phishing is because many a time people and companies have a lot of
digital devices as a part of their daily operations which leads to ignorance in checking
each device for being secure digitally. Strong and consistent regulation systems must be
in place and every device which makes up the enterprise's digital capabilities and part of
the operation network should be accounted for and tested regularly.
 Multi-factor Authentication – These systems are one of the most secure an robust
methods that have been developed by companies to especially prevent hackers from
entering systems using phishing programmes. One of the best defences against phishing

involves complete protection getting sent dubious sources and fraudulent links and with
multi factor authentication, two-factor security and login requirements can be placed on
important websites and servers to bolster system and safety of companies from phishing
attacks.
When it comes to individual protection against phishing attacks, things get much more
problematic as these people do not possess the same financial resources as business companies
do and they are much easier targets for people who use phishing as scamming is relatively easy if
precautionary methods are not taken in due time. Some of the methods that are used by
individuals are described herein to prevent against getting scammed by phishing.
 Filtering and regulation of e-mails which leads to protection from links which are
dubious in nature. People must be very aware that the mails they receive and respond to
are legit and do not posses any degree of fraudulence involved.
 Checking for URL and HTTP positioning in links as links which are generated solely for
the purpose of stealing and manipulating data often have flaws in their design and
structure of website design.
 The individuals must take proper care of their systems by regularly taking backup of their
important data and crucial personal and professional files which is very important as
stolen data if recovered can prevent important disasters (Jain and Gupta, 2021).
Both business and individuals can properly protect themselves and their important data
and resources from criminals who resort to phishing attacks by first of all being aware regarding
the various tactics used by some people with the help of anti-phishing trainings and tool mastery
sessions. Companies should hold such training sessions regularly and employees must use the
taught practices to secure both their office and home computer systems from such malicious
attacks.
CONCLUSION
The above report went into detail regarding the current growth of cybersecurity measures
which has been prompted by increasing number of attacks on the data and capabilities of

business and their digital infrastructures globally. The report defined the scope and use of
phishing as one of the most commonly seen threats to cybersecurity along with its types such as
spear phishing and various methods used by criminals to scam people using technologies such as
social media and data stealing. It was concluded with measures and recommendations to prevent
getting scammed with employee anti-phishing training being found as the best method available.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Azeez, and et.al., 2021. Adopting automated whitelist approach for detecting phishing attacks.
Computers & Security, 108, p.102328.
Burns, A.J., Johnson, M.E. and Caputo, D.D., 2019. Spear phishing in a barrel: Insights from a
targeted phishing campaign. Journal of Organizational Computing and Electronic
Commerce, 29(1), pp.24-39.
Jain, A.K. and Gupta, B.B., 2021. A survey of phishing attack techniques, defence mechanisms
and open research challenges. Enterprise Information Systems, pp.1-39.
Kam, H.J., and et.al., 2020. Cultivating cybersecurity learning: An integration of self-
determination and flow. Computers & Security, 96, p.101875.
Shahbaznezhad, H., Kolini, F. and Rashidirad, M., 2021. Employees’ behavior in phishing
attacks: what individual, organizational, and technological factors matter?. Journal of
Computer Information Systems, 61(6), pp.539-550.
Online referencing
The Five Most Costly Phishing Attacks to Date, 2022 [online] available through
<https://www.checkpoint.com/cyber-hub/threat-prevention/what-is-phishing/the-top-5-phishing-
scams-of-all-times/>