The theft of personal information is becoming a widespread problem for network security professionals. What’s the most common method for tricking a user into divulging their personal account details?
A) Spam
B) Phishing
C) Social engineering
D) Spyware
E) Sour Apple Martinis
The answer: B) Phishing
Although most of these methods can ultimately be used to steal private data, phishing is the most common method of obtaining this information. A phishing site often appears to look like a legitimate site, but the web pages are actually hosted by the bad guys. With this web page doppelganger in place, it’s easy to fool people into freely giving their username, password, and other personal details.
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Want to know more? Watch “Security Fundamentals.” Data security is the responsibility of everyone in the organization. In this module, we’ll examine some of the basic fundamentals of security such as authentication technologies, file system security, and social engineering. |
Phishing is more common than social engineering?
Phishing is much more common than social engineering. I must have a handful of emails in my inbox right now that pretend to be from my cable company, my bank, and Paypal. Fake web pages are much easier to create and distribute than a smooth con.