Phishing is online fraud technique, used by criminals in the computer world to steal bank passwords and other personal information, using them fraudulently.
The expression phishing (pronounced "file") emerged from the English word "fishing"which means "fishing". That is, criminals use this technique to "fish" the data of victims who "bite the hook" launched by phisher ("fisherman"), name that is given to whoever executes a phishing.
an attempt to phishing it can happen through fake websites or e-mails, which imitate the image of a famous and trustworthy company in order to get the attention of victims. Typically, the contents of websites or emails with phishing they promise extravagant promotions for the internet user or ask them to update their bank details, avoiding account cancellation, for example.
The most inattentive and uninformed internet user, when he falls into this trap, is redirected to a page on the web similar to that of the original company or bank, where you must inform your personal data and banking services. The victim thinks he is just confirming his information with the bank, when in fact he is sending all the data to a criminal.
The purpose of phishing is to use the data collected by criminals to make purchases over the internet, bank transfers or even clean the victim's entire bank account.
Many companies currently develop antiphishing software, which offer more efficient mail filters spam and notifications of any type of suspected irregularity in the content of the email.
Phishing and Pharming
O pharming (pronounced "farmin") is considered an "evolution" of phishing, with the same objective of obtaining personal information from the victims, but without the need to "fish" the Internet user with a false email or link.
Phishing and malware
Criminals take advantage of malware and viruses that are spread across the internet to be able to infect and modify the browser (internet browser) from the user's computer. Being infected, when the Internet user types the electronic address of a website, the browser redirects the page to a fake website, but with the same aesthetic characteristics as the original.
The internet user thinks he is on the correct website, as he has not clicked on any strange links and typed the address directly into the URL of the browser, and you end up providing your bank and personal details more easily, without suspecting that you are suffering a scam.
spear phishing
O spear phishing (literally translated from English as "harpoon fishing"), is a more effective variant of phishing, where phishers can determine which users have a relationship with a particular financial entity.
Thus, the emails are sent in a "personalized" way, considerably increasing the fraud success margin.