Phishing: Watch out for phishers | Salvage from misadventure

Phishing has increasingly become a pervasive problem within the digital world. It can be defined as an act of forging a website or sending fraudulent emails/ text messages in order to get private data from the victims, such as login credentials of accounts, bank account details, etc. This can be done in several ways such as spear phishing, link manipulation, filter evasion, whaling. etc.

The fraudulent party often pretends to be a trusted source such as an auction site, payment gateway portals, social media websites, etc. In many cases, they have been seen to send luring communication which entraps the users. This is a highly vexing issue that is required to be tackled. The most important point of concern during a phishing attack is that action needs to be taken almost immediately when the attack is detected in order to minimize the damage.

Fraudsters often purchase registers or registrar domain name which appears very similar to the original website. Then they post similar but deceitful content on that website and attempt to attract users to that domain by sending out fake emails or text alerts.

What is also very important for the afflicted party is that for the fraudulent website or portal to be taken down immediately and for the criminal to be caught. The latter part is a rather difficult feat because it often becomes nearly impossible to track down the criminal. However, it is absolutely possible to take down the fraudulent website. Just about any online website or portal is vulnerable to a phishing attack. Hence, it is very essential to remain prepared. Domain monitoring is essentially a very effective web solution which helps to prevent such attacks or detect them in the early stages.

Once such a suspicious domain is detected, a business needs to initiate action immediately. The goal should be to take down the fraudulent website so the afflicted business will not get affected furthermore. However, there are many important things that need to be kept in mind when one has encountered this problem. First and foremost, the laws of that particular country should be considered. The legal aspects pertaining to internet services differ from one country to another. For example, in some countries, there are strict legal procedures that are needed to be followed in ordered to peruse and go through with the takedown. For some other countries, the laws may be slightly laxed.

The next step during this problem would be to get in touch with concerned authorities who would be able to provide requisite help in this matter. It is important to collaborate with internet service providers immediately. Most of them have laws or standard procedures regarding such extreme situations and they would be able to guide you. They can provide you with effective web solutions and act very responsibly if the fraud has happened with their services and clients. Then, it is also important to collaborate with IT professionals and Cyber Security members in the organization to come up with a contingency plan.

However, the registrar domain name can be taken down only through the registrar who has created the domain. This is the source from whom the domain was bought. Hence, one of the key steps in the process would be to get in touch with the registrar. You should immediately draft an email to the registrar’s abuse and help the team. In the email, the afflicted business should elaborate on the problem and file a detailed complaint. They are meant to respond during their working hours. And there are a few registrars who have been accredited by ICANN who will have to respond to your complaints as they are bound by law. Yet in some unfortunate situations, the registrar is the fraud and therefore becomes unresponsive even on contact. The situation might seem bleak at this, but there is still another way! There are a few parties which can help you to take down the website such as CSIRTS or CERTs. 

If all the aforementioned procedures are carried out in time, the fraudulent venture can be stopped with almost immediate action and with minimal damage. The collaboration between several different helpful parties can do the major trick and help you get through this issue. Yet, there is always a loophole with this, that the criminal may not get caught too easily even if the website is taken down. He/she might become aware of the fact that someone is at their tail and they may stop this particular venture and embark upon another one.

Conclusion

Hence, the most important thing is to protect your business against such attacks. Monitoring and detection for phishing should be a part of the information security sector of a business or an organization. What you can also opt for is hire a consulting agency who can perform these services for you and keep you protected! As it is commonly said, prevention is always better than cure.

TIKAJ offers amazing Anti-Phishing services.