Phishing, what you should know L kout Initiative Office of Information Technology

2 Important Note The information published hereafter is just a collection of selected IT industry best practices and tips that might assist you in improving the security levels against computer related threats while exercising your computing activities. The information published hereafter is not meant in any way to provide a comprehensive solution nor to ensure full protection against computer related threats.

3 Office of Information Technology >Phishing is a form of social engineering that is executed via electronic means and can lead to identity theft and fraud. What is Phishing?

4 Office of Information Technology Social Engineering >A social engineer is a polite cracker!! >A social engineer is a person who will deceive or con others into divulging information that they wouldnt normally share (credit card numbers, bank account information, passwords…etc.). >He/she will build inappropriate trust relationship with insiders.

5 Office of Information Technology Social Engineering >He/she may seem: Unassuming and respectable Possibly claiming to be a new employee, repair person, or researcher and even offering credentials to support that identity. >Social Engineers use these techniques: Appeal to vanity Appeal to authority Appeal to old-fashioned eavesdropping

6 Office of Information Technology Social Engineering >Human Based: In Person. Third-party authorization: The social engineer obtains the name of someone who has the authority to grant access to information. Impersonation: A social engineer might impersonate any character and use certain privileges.

7 Office of Information Technology Social Engineering >Electronic Based: Targeted messages Spam, chain letters and hoaxes attachments Pop windows Spoofed Websites Instant Messaging and Chat rooms Cell phone text messages (SMS) (details in slides ahead)

8 Office of Information Technology Phishing: Real Life Example 1 - AUB

9 Office of Information Technology Phishing: Real Life Example 1 - AUB

10 Office of Information Technology Phishing: Real Life Example 2 - AUB

11 Office of Information Technology Phishing: Real Life Example 2 - AUB

12 Office of Information Technology Phishing: Real Life Example 3 - Common Tricks Same old story, but a different version

13 Office of Information Technology Phishing: Real Life Example 4 - Silly Reasoning Yeah, right

14 Office of Information Technology Phishing: Real Life Example 5 - Fake Sites This one is Easy! This is not eBay site but a fake One.

15 Office of Information Technology Phishing: Real Life Example 6 - Tricky URLs

16 Office of Information Technology Phishing: Real Life Example 6 - Tricky URLs

17 Office of Information Technology Phishing: Real Life Example 7 - Spyware

18 Office of Information Technology How to Avoid Becoming a Phishing Victim? IMPORTANT NOTICE - ALERT Rule 1: NEVER provide your PASSWORD to anyone Rule 2: AUB staff will NEVER request your PASSWORD via You may have read or heard of fraudulent s that encourage recipients to provide their personal details such as user names and passwords. At AUB, we will never request your password via e- mail. If you receive such an request, please delete it immediately.

19 Office of Information Technology Phishers s are typically NOT personalized, while valid messages from your bank or e-commerce company generally are. Phishers typically include upsetting (usually a threat ) information to get people to react immediately (i.e., claiming they will shut off your account). How to Avoid Becoming a Phishing Victim? Is it that urgent?

20 Office of Information Technology Phishers typically include exciting (but false) statements in their s or pop ups to entice people to access their web sites, i.e. claiming that you have won a prize, lottery or inherited wealth. Never respond to requests for personal or confidential information via . When in doubt: Call the institution that claims to have sent you the . Login to their web site by typing their address at the browser address bar. How to Avoid Becoming a Phishing Victim? Does this sound too good to be true? Who is this person?

21 Office of Information Technology If you suspect the message might not be authentic, don't use the links within the to get to a web page, the web page can be spoofed. Never fill out forms in messages that ask for confidential information, you should only communicate confidential information via a secure website. How to Avoid Becoming a Phishing Victim?

22 Office of Information Technology How to Avoid Becoming a Phishing Victim? Always ensure that you're using a secure website when submitting credit card or other sensitive information via your web browser. Check the beginning of the Web address in your browsers address bar - it should be rather than just Look for the locked padlock icon on your browser (IE; Netscape/Mozilla)

23 Office of Information Technology How to Avoid Becoming a Phishing Victim? Never continue to a secure web site that has a problem with its security certificate. Internet browsers do present the user with an error message (example: IE7 message below).

24 Office of Information Technology Regularly check your bank, credit and debit card statements to ensure that all transactions are legitimate and if anything is suspicious, contact your bank and all card issuers Ensure that your browser and OS software is up-to-date and that security patches are applied (Example: MS Outlook signatures of spam s) Ensure antivirus and anti-spyware software is installed and current. How to Avoid Becoming a Phishing Victim?

25 Office of Information Technology Ensure that your browser phishing filter is turned ON. Example: IE7 phishing filter controls. How to Avoid Becoming a Phishing Victim?

26 Office of Information Technology What to do if you Suspect a Phishing ? 1. Stop, never reply, or use any of the URL links embedded in the body, or open attachments, or fill in online forms embedded in the body. 2. Report to IT :

27 Office of Information Technology What to do if you Think you were a Victim? 1.If you believe you might have revealed sensitive AUB information or might have revealed information that could be used for identity theft or fraud, contact

28 Office of Information Technology Test your Phishing IQ Check this Website:

29 Office of Information Technology Acknowledgements >Office of Information Technology team >Work-Study students: Marwa Abdul Baki Donna Bazzi >Comic strips are reproduced with permission. Please visit for more material. >