How Personal & Internet Security Work

Chapter 6. How “Phishing” Attacks Can Steal Your Identity—and How to Protect Against Them

Perhaps the most lucrative type of Internet attacks are so-called phishing attacks—attacks in which you’re sent an email from what appears to be a bank; financial institution; or commerce site such as PayPal, Amazon, or eBay, but which is in fact forged. The term phishing was invented by hackers who were “fishing” to steal account information from AOL users. Hackers frequently replace the letter f with ph, and that’s how the term was created. The emails warn that you must log on to your account, perhaps to verifyinformation or perhaps to ensure your account ...